Battle Mayhem
by Julianabsolskittychikorita
Summary: A sequel to Lavender Town! New people! New shipping! New STORY! Lunaria Knight has been looking for her sister ever since Nurse Joy told her that her sister was dead, even if Lunaria has to go to the Ecto region. Together with her friends, she searches for her sister and the answer to the mystery of Romeria Ellory Grace's PC. Written in collaboration with Venusaurite!
1. Chapter 1: Escapade

_Okay people please don't judge this story because it's the first story that has multiple chapters and it'll probably be really bad. Please don't be too hard on me... Well, without further ado, peeps, here's the story!_

* * *

**Rosebud**  
"Rosebud, wake up!" A voice yells.

A warm nose pokes my head. Flare is warm, well, he's always been warm. He's a Flareon. I open my eyes, "Another day in our little metal box, huh?" I ask groggily.

"They've been talking, Rosebud. I think we should get ready. Who knows? Our crate might blow up randomly!"

I laugh softly, wincing at the large gash on the top of my head, bleeding chlorophyll profusely. Flare lets me lean on him as we make way towards the bars of the cage. Suddenly, a large human face appears in front of us. Flare bravely spits an Ember at it, burning the face quite badly. The human yowls, "AAAIIIII!"

"Nice one, Flare," I say.

"Thanks, Rosebud. You okay?" Flare asks, suddenly worried.

"I'm going to be alright, Flare," I say. "Don't worry about me."

The human, now with his face scarred and ugly, puts his face right into ours, "Let's take away your little friend," he sneers, "and we'll see how brave you are, then!"

He opens the cage and reaches in. I immediately use Absorb on his hand, but it proves itself ineffective. He grabs me roughly by the flower bud on my head, dragging me out. We're not too strong, Flare and I, myself just a measly level 6 and Flare a level 15. Flare and I have been friends since he hatched, which was actually two days after I was. I was alpha until he got to level 15, when he insisted that the best in the pack was omega. I haven't leveled up since Flare got to level 10. Oh, Flare. Flare bounds towards the door to the cage, trying to get at the man, who is now smushing the bud on my head between his thumb and middle finger. Tears escape my eyes, but I ignore the pain as the man laughs, smashing my head and kicking Flare. Finally, I black out.

This isn't the first time I've blacked out, neither is it the second, third, fourth, or tenth time. When I come to again, I am in a metal box with bars at the front. I can tell it's the same box that I've been in for the past few months, but what worries me is that Flare isn't with me. I search around the box, my head woozy and my feet feeling too small for my body. I bang the bars of the cage crazily, trying to break it open. I bang on it even more, using all the moves that I know; Absorb and Growth. Suddenly, a crazy plan comes into my head and I forget using Absorb and start only using Growth. I grow bigger and bigger, until the metal box is too small. I use it two more times and I feel squished against the walls and everything. The box explodes, and I shrink back down again. I feel smaller than usual, but it's only an aftereffect of using Growth. After I get used to my smallness again, I wander around the dimly lit room. I find an arch, and I walk through. The trainers in the room seem to be having a very serious meeting, as it is all dimly lit and the lead man is only a silhouette against the orange walls. The man on his right hand side suddenly interrupts, whining rather loudly, "Why's the lighting so dim?"

"It's to make a dramatic effect," the lead man says. "You'll also notice that a lot of people in this show whisper for no apparent reason."

I frown in confusion, as he just called this a show, when obviously, it's a story on a fanfiction site. The man on his side slumps down in his seat as the lead man continues, "Well, as I was saying, we have come to believe that a large group of terrorists have gotten their hands on a large colony of… Electrode."

Trainers all around the table gasp and start talking to each other in hushed voices. The lead man bangs a fist on the table and a Hariyama, who was hiding in the shadows, follows suit, dropping a box on the table as well. Everybody quiets down and the "president", as I have decided to call him, stands up and strolls around the table. He begins a speech, "As you all know, Electrode absolutely adore all Flareon, right?"

My heart starts beating like never before, and I wonder whether Flare is in the box or some other Flareon is. The trainers around the table start talking again, only to be interrupted by the president, banging his hands on the table again, "Shut up!" he yells, "I must finish my speech, or I will lose my spot!"

He opens the cage and takes out a small, shivering Flareon, "This, my friends," he says, lifting the Flareon up high, "is our secret weapon. Well, at least this is one of them. Though it is puny, weak and low leveled, we will defeat the terrorists with him because he is a Flareon, none the less."

I wonder why they have even bothered testing things on me, when all they really needed was Flare. I watch them as they poke at Flare, pinching his cheeks and tugging on his tail, but I don't do anything yet because I want to free him without being caught myself, as we've tried escape before, only to be caught by the guards and be stuffed back into a box, each time with a harder lock. I don't know what's the good with all the testing and injections they've done to me, and I suppose I don't want to know. All I want is for me and Flare to be able to get back to the wild. Ah, the wild. I haven't been there in so long that I've forgotten how fresh air tastes. I remember looking out of the cage in the beginning of the capture, seeing only uncultivated lands, Pokémon probably unknown to all of mankind, and… nothing else. No buildings, no Pokémon Centers, nothing. It seemed like I was in a new region, even though the Sinnoh region was still so new, with crazy trainers and people figuring out all the secrets of defeating the current champion. I sigh, remembering my region. Suddenly, I am forced back into the present because of something they are doing. The president has started talking again, and the trainers around the table have gasped. The president says, "So, I don't know whether you all know about this particular Flareon, but this Flareon has seemed to develop a special bond… with a shiny Budew. I don't know why, because we all know they cannot breed."

I blush there madly, but on the bright side, I know that the Flareon is Flare. Also, I don't have a clue what 'shiny' means. Do I have sparkles? Am I a sparkly vampire? ...Didn't think so.

The president continues, "So we have done some testing on the Budew, to find nothing different about it, except for the fact that it is shiny, of course, and also has an amazing nature: Timid. However, this Budew… is not timid, therefore we have done much testing and we even injected the tiny little Budew with a prototype of what I call "The-learn-all-moves-shot/injection". I do believe the name explains it all. We can't tell whether the prototype is working or not, so we must keep the Budew safe and have a close eye on it."

They all glare at one particular person on the president's left hand side of the table. That man protests, "Hey, I was trying to take the Flareon out of the cage! It spit an Ember at my face!"

"That is not an excuse, Dr. Flamsi. It is also not an excuse to… to… ACHOO!"

I hadn't notice my bud opening in the heat of the moment, and I only notice it when everybody in the room, including Flare, start to sneeze violently. Suddenly, another puff of spores scatter from the bud on top of my head and they all freeze. I look around and even poke one of the trainers. Then I realize that they are all paralyzed, so I race towards my friend, still in the president's hand. I knock him out of the president's sweaty hand and he starts yelling something through his mid-sneeze mouth. I nudge Flare out of the room and into a small closet, where nobody can hurt him. Doing this, I run towards another automatic door. It leads to the outside, where I see, to my great joy, a Cheri berry bush! Using my bud, I snap a berry off of the bush and rush back into the building, where there is no sound to be heard except a low clicking in the distance. I find the closet that I had hidden Flare in and open the door. Flare is still there, thank Arceus, but he is still paralyzed, so I poke the berry into his mouth and he somehow swallows it. After he does so, he takes a deep breath and laughs, "Rosebud… nine levels below me, has saved me once again. When did you learn Stun Spore?"

"I don't know…" I say, "maybe I've just leveled up four times? I don't care, either, Flare. Let's get ourselves out of here once and for all."

Flare lets me ride on him as I direct him to the automatic door, when we finally escape the prison that we'd been stuck in for more than two years.

* * *

_Please comment! :D_


	2. Chapter 2: Promises

_AH SHIPPY SHIPPY SHIPPY! I know this is a little short, but I've sent chapter three out at the same time. One chapter every... other day? Yup! That's it! :D  
_

* * *

**Rosebud**

"Rosebud… where are we?" Flare asks after he's run for a while.

"I don't know, Flare… we should find a place to stay the night," I say. "We need all the sleep we can get, and the sun is going to set soon."

Flare nods and I slide off of his back. We venture into some tall grass, in which I spy a hollow tree. I ask, "Does this mean I know Water Sport now?"

"Please don't try it out, Rosebud. You know me and water… they don't mix."

I nod and we continue on, heading towards the hollow tree. Flare and I sit side by side, watching the sun set over the ocean, "Flare," I say, "I don't care where we are or what has happened over the past two years, but as long as we're together… I'll be fine with that."

"Same to you, Rosebud," Flare says, just as the sun sets. "We'll fight together, we'll never, ever betray each other, and nothing will part us, till the day we die."

I laugh and continue on for him, "In sickness and health."

He suppresses a laugh, "For better for worse."

I have to think for this one, "For... richer for poorer."

Flare laughs, "For fairer or fouler."

I look at Flare, "To love and to cherish…"

Flare looks back at me, "Till death do we part."

We say in unison, "I do."

* * *

_Uh... comments are still loved? :)  
_


	3. Chapter 3: Evolution

_The chapter that I promised, although it _is_ a little late... sorry! _

* * *

**Rosebud**

That night, I slept the best I ever did in two years. No cage, no worries, and a big pile of… berries? I open my eyes fully in the bright morning light and stare at them for a while. Flare, who could sleep through a stampede of Tauros, sleeps on so I creep towards the berries, looking for a tripwire or a bucket of slime that might fall on my head if I take one of the berries. I don't see any, but I am still wary of the mountain of berries. But they look… so juicy… and ripe… I can't help it. I take a berry. Or two. Or fifteen.

Suddenly I'm at my last berry and I have to leave something for Flare. I sit down, staring down at the berry. It's so… big and round… I want to eat it so badly, and I even know what kind of berry it is; a Charti berry, and it looks like heaven.

"DONT EAT MY BERRIES!" something shrieks, and a flash of orange leaps towards my face.

"I'm not! I swear!" I protest, trying to get the orange Pokémon off my head.

"DONTEATMYBERRIESDONTEATMYBERRIESDONTEATTHEM!" the orange thing yells.

"I'll get you new ones! Please! Just leave me alone!"

It pays no mind, screaming "DONTEATMYBERRIES!" over and over again, until I can't hear myself think.

The thing detaches from my face. Flare is standing there coolly, a Trapinch hanging from his jaws. It's fainted.

"Thanks, Flare," I pant.

"Berries?" he raises his eyebrow. I roll the plump Charti berry over to him.

"Don't eat my berries!" the Trapinch squeaks, wide-eyed.

Flare drops it to gnaw on the berry. The Trapinch whimpers.

"My berries!" it cries, throwing itself crazily on the ground where the stack of berries once were.

Suddenly, I feel really guilty. The Trapinch is crying now. Not those fake tears— real, actual tears that look like they burn. I look behind it and find a small tree, laden with ripe, red Lansat berries. I look at Flare, clearly he has the same idea. Together, we pick another pile (entirely of Lansat berries) for the Trapinch and roll the hill over to it. The Trapinch is still throwing a massive temper tantrum, so Flare has to pin it down to talk sense into the thing.

"MY BERRIES!" It shrieks, "MY BEAUTIFUL RIPE BERRIES!"

"Hey!" Flare yells. "There are berries right next to you!"

"Berries?" The Trapinch squeaks, looking up. Tears glisten in its dark eyes.

"Yes, berries," I say, nudging a red berry toward the Trapinch. It causes the entire stack to fall and the Trapinch chokes out a laugh.

"Flare, let it go!" I say, and Flare releases the Trapinch.

"I am a girl!" the Trapinch squeaks indignantly.

"What's your name?" Flare asks.

She mumbles something around a mouthful of berries.

Flare whacks her on the top of her head with his forepaw, "Don't talk with your mouth full," he scolds.

"You sound like my old trainer," the Trapinch complains, swallowing.

"You had a trainer?" I ask, surprised.

"You didn't?" she spits back, chowing down on another berry.

"Well, I'm sorry," Flare growls, "but we've been stuck in a lab for over two years!"

"Temper, temper…" she chides.

Flare's tail puffs up angrily and I swear I can see fire in his eyes, "Shut… your…"

"FLARE!" I yell, knowing what word is going to come next, "Little kids could be reading this!"

He rolls his eyes, but he doesn't finish the sentence, "Okay, sorry, sorry…" he apologizes, his tail returning to normal.

"You never told us your name," I tell the Trapinch.

"Arielle," she says, after another gulp of berries.

"Synonymous with annoying," Flare huffs under his breath.

I'm tempted to try out Water Sport.

"Don't say words that I don't understand!" Arielle squawks.

"Um… Arielle… We should be going by now," I say, backing away.

I really don't want Flare to… well, flare up again and burn up all of Arielle's berries, because I don't think she'd like that and I don't want to redo all of what just happened.

"Okay, bye!" she calls cheerfully as I leap onto Flare's back and he takes off running.

We run until Flare's tail bristles, and I know something's bothering him.

Flare mutters to himself, "No… it can't be… oh, please, please, please, be a hidden ability Trapinch… crud oh crud.."

"What is it, Flare?" I ask.

Arielle's distant voice starts warbling an annoying song that I know from somewhere, and she won't stop.

"Ro, do you know what the ability of Trapinch is?"

"No, what?" I ask.

Flare bangs into an invisible wall, throwing me off his back and I tumble to the ground.

"ARENA TRAP, SUCKERS! PREVENTS ESCAPE!" Arielle's loud, irritating voice caws.

"Flare, how do we get rid of her?" I ask, pulling myself up.

"We have to defeat her in battle," Flare informs me, "And by the looks of her, that is a level 26 Trapinch we're looking at."

"Crud," I say, mimicking him.

"Don't imitate me, Ro," he says, staring at the Trapinch, who is in a clearing, singing her annoying song and rolling around in the dust.

Flare starts the battle with a Tackle, throwing Arielle into a rock. She cries out, using Bulldoze, and I watch as Flare collapses, unable to take the shaking earth. He has fainted with one hit. My Flare, my strong, smart, funny Flare, has left me to defeat Arielle by myself.

"I suppose you want to battle me too?" Arielle snarls, her eyes hard and cold.

I look at Flare for reassurance, and his defeated eyes meet mine. Arielle's much stronger than me. I know that already. One attack will leave me like Flare, and we will be trapped in Arielle's territory forever. I can't be touched. I can't be hit. I need to win this. For Flare.

"Yes," I say carefully, "I would like to battle you,"

"Good," Arielle raises her front two feet and sends a whirlwind of sand towards me.

I run around helplessly, dodging the Sand Tomb, and I instinctively jump on top of Arielle, thinking she was Flare for a second. Realizing my mistake, I leap off of her and use absorb just when her jaws open for a Bite attack. The Sand Tomb (which was following me somehow) crashes into Arielle, pulling her up into the sky. Arielle's large mouth lets out a string of inappropriate words as she falls towards the earth again. It makes sense that a ground type would be scared of heights.

Arielle crashes into the ground hard, and when she rises again, I see a large cut running down her side. Her back leg is twisted in a way that it shouldn't be, and Arielle's face is locked in a wince.

I realize that I can't knock her out. I am too scared. I am too small. I don't want to make her bleed to death. I don't want to kill an innocent Pokémon.

Flare has woken up by now, and his voice urges me on, "Come on, Rosebud! Just one absorb and we'll be free!"

But I can't. Arielle could die.

I make myself help her up. She looks surprised, but gratefully accepts my support. Flare looks at me and it makes me shrivel up inside- never have I seen such a look of betrayal on a Pokémon.

"Arielle," I say, "Turn your ability off. Please. We'll leave you alone. I don't want to have to kill you to just go away,"

"But I can't," she whines, her voice heaving, "It's impossible to turn an ability off!"

To prove her point, Arielle falls to the ground again, too heavy for me to lift, and I look at her. She's poisoned. It's my Poison Point.

I watch her as the last of her health depletes itself and her eyes close.

I watch her as she fades away.

I watch her, I watch her, but I don't help her.

"Rosebud," Flare says angrily, obviously hurt, "Why did you help her up? You knew the only way we could've left would've been to defeat her, so why did you help her?"

"Where… where did she go, Flare?" I ask, staring at the spot where the trapinch was.

"She can't be dead, Ro. She probably went back to her trainer or something. What kind of person would set a pokemon like her free?"

"She _was_ pretty strong…"

"Exactly! Now can you please tell me why you didn't just use absorb?"

"I… I didn't want to kill her," I say.

Flare sighs, and we sit down side by side. I lean my head on him for a while, feeling a swell of love in my heart, "Thank you, Flare," I say, "I love you."

The warm fuzzy feeling from my heart spreads itself through me and I feel like I'm growing, like I've used Growth a few too many times. I grow another pair of limbs and I feel like I'm done. What tops it all off, is the pain on my head though. I look at everything from a higher view and there are three thorns on my head. I stand up on wobbly feet, and I examine myself. Flare, who had fallen asleep, notices my absence and opens his eyes to ask me what was wrong. He gasps, "Woah, Rosebud… What happened?"

"I don't know, Flare… What are these?" I mumble, waving around my new appendages.

Flare laughs, "I think those are arms, Rosebud. You've evolved, haven't you?"

I cheer, running around, waving my "arms" in the air, "I've evolved!"

"Well," Flare says, stretching his legs out in the mid day air, "I suppose it isn't time to sleep yet, and since you've gotten your evolution strength, it only makes sense if we use that to plod on to some place we can make a permanent home."

I nod, now examining my weird dress-like thing, "Flare… were you like this when you first evolved? All confused and wondering what all the new limbs were?"

"No," he replies, "I've been a Flareon since level one. You saw, right? My mom gave me a fire stone to play around with and I evolved, so I'm used to the tail… the ever so heavy tail. And anyways, being a Flareon isn't much more different from being an Eevee, I still have a tail and all, the only things I think are different are the coloring, size and my cool hairdo."

I laugh, "Then let's go!"

"No riding me anymore, okay?" Flare says. "If and when you decide to evolve again, I won't be able to carry you and I don't _want_ to carry you."

"Okay," I sigh. "That means I'm going to avoid evolving from now on."

Flare smiles and we take off, following the sun.

* * *

_Um... so far, I haven't gotten any messages... messages are approved! :D_


	4. Chapter 4: Choose one, any one!

_This is a super long chapter, and I was bored and out of juice when I was writing it, so it's a little weird. :P_

* * *

**Rosebud**

We head towards a city, on a large route where we almost bump into a trainer. On the way, I find a pond and take a look at myself. The thorns on my head are pretty huge, after all and I don't think I look as amazing as I did before… I sigh, "I don't think I look as good as a Roselia."

Flare laughs, "Oh, Rosebud, I think you're the same. I don't care about how you look; I only care about… Holy Arceus, that smells like heaven!"

I sniff the air, "What? I don't smell anything…"

"It's so… sweet!" Flare sighs, his head tilting to the right.

Flare promptly falls asleep, right in the middle of the road. I start freaking out, trying to lift Flare somehow, but it turns out that roses aren't exactly the best thing to use when trying to pick somebody up… I finally manage to roll Flare into a ditch on the side of the road, and while I sit there, waiting for him to wake up, I examine my roses some more. The one on my right hand side is purple for some reason, and the other is black. I sit down, trying to figure out why I'm different. I sit down against Flare and poke him a few times. I even poke him with the thorns on my head, but nothing happens. Finally, I decide to whack him on the head with my roses. It's fun, and it also works. Flare jumps up, screaming bloody murder, and I just stand there like, "Ha!"

"Rosebud!" He yells indignantly, "What was that for?"  
"You were sleeping, dummy, and we've been losing a lot of sunlight," I answer.

"So why did you wake me up?"

"You never told me what that 'heavenly smell' is, Flare. I really want to know… because I can't smell it," I sigh.

"Hmm…" Flare thinks, "I can't really explain it, but I think I can track down where it's coming from…"

Flare sniffs the air for a while and takes a few steps in my direction, "It's really strong, Rosebud, especially from where you're standing. Huh. I wonder why you can't smell it."

From a far distance, I hear Pokémon and a voice yelling something very loud. I put a rose in Flare's face, silencing him, and with the other rose, point his head in the direction of the yelling, "Flare," I ask, "Can you hear them?"

Flare nods, shaking my roses off of his face, "But they're too far away for me to be able to tell what."

"Let's go check it out," I say.

Flare gasps, "I just realized…"

"What?"

Flare starts to wail, "You're alpha!"  
"Flare, that is nothing to be upset about. Someday, hopefully, we'll both be at level 100 and our lives will be complete, and no one will be alpha!"

Flare sighs and I start sneaking towards the sounds of the Pokémon and (probably) trainers. I watch in awe as a bird-like Pokémon with red-orange feathers on the outside of it's wings and gray feathers on the bottom flies around the sky. It has a hooked beak and large talons. Suddenly, my attention is drawn to the trainer on the ground, who yells, "Okay, Talonflame, use Brave Bird on that rock!"

Talonflame? Is that a nickname, or is that the Pokémon species? I recall seeing one of these Pokémon on the truck ride here, and I think I heard the driver saying the word Talonflame, so… that must be the Pokémon species name! Judging from the name alone, I can tell that it's a flying-fire type. I do not want to get mixed up with that… I gulp, crawling back down the hill. Flare appears next to me, "That Pokémon… is really high leveled. I think that's a level 64 Pokémon right there!"

"Seriously?" I breathe, staring at the Talonflame.

"Seriously. That is one awesome Pokémon, Rosebud. Let's not get too close," Flare says.

I nod, and turn my attention solely to the trainer. I can tell that the trainer is a girl, because of the honey-colored hair curled into perfect ringlets and the hot pink dress, but I can't really tell too much about her personality from her back. She screams at the Talonflame, "Talonflame! What the heck was that? That was the worst Brave Bird I've ever seen! How are we supposed to defeat anyone with the weakness?"

Talonflame caws, "Shut up, Serena, I'm a better fighter than you, right? I've never even seen you even try to fight!"

Serena takes out Talonflame's Pokéball and stuffs the Pokémon inside, then she yells at it, "You, Talonflame, shouldn't talk back to me, okay? I'm your trainer, and therefore much better than you!"

The Pokéball shakes in defiance and then goes quiet. Serena stomps away, with Flare and I staring at her back, "That…" Flare says, "is why we're never getting a trainer like that, Rosebud."

I nod when suddenly, a large shadow appears, covering both me and Flare. I read looking up, but I do, and when I do, I see a person wearing a nurse's cap. Her pink hair is tied in a loop and she is wearing a white apron over a short pink dress with puffy sleeves. She bends down trying to pet Flare's head, "Are you two Pokémon lost?" she asks.

We don't say anything; I just stare at her while Flare tries to bite the hand. The nurse lady yelps, "Oh! You two must be wild!"

I stare at her some more before Flare, still growling, tries to attack her. I don't want the lady to get hurt, because I think she could be a good person, so I stick my rose in Flare's face, stopping him mid-leap. Flare falls into a heap, suddenly calm, "Sorry," he mumbles.

"Oh!" The nurse cries. "You can speak! Are you hungry?"

I am about to say no, but my stomach growls before I can say anything. I blush, face turning red. The nurse laughs, "All right, why don't you two come along?"

Flare, who is also pretty hungry, plods along right after the human, who continues to talk, "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Nurse Joy of East Ecto City, and I… why are you looking at me so funny?"

"East Ecto City? What region are we in?" Flare demands.

"I'm sorry, I can't understand what you are saying, Flareon. But I can tell you what region we are in," Nurse Joy says cheerily.

"Thank you," Flare says.

"We are in the beautiful Ecto region, filled with ghosts, both human and Pokémon. However, since there has been a recent swell of trainers searching for ghost types, most of these Pokémon ghosts have been caught, leaving only the humans. Scary, is it not?" She asks, still very cheery.

Flare and I glance at each other. Was this lady possessed by one of these ghosts? I shiver, still following her. We enter a city, which is filled with trainers, all laughing and showing off their Pokémon, and many of them stare at me, or to be more precise, my roses. A little shy of their stares, I try to hide my roses under my arms and Flare helps out by glaring daggers at everybody staring at me, "Thanks, Flare," I murmur.

"It's nothing, Ro," he answers, staring down an especially hardy trainer.

I smile and we enter a building with an orange roof. I stare at some of the posters inside. One advertises for a ghost house in a region called Kalos, another advertises for the Pokémon Tower in the Kanto region, and another advertises for… Hello Skitty creampuffs (um… Poképuffs for humans?). Nurse Joy plops down a bowl of Pokémon food in front of both Flare and I as we seat ourselves on a bench in the far right corner of the building. Nurse Joy says, "This is a Pokémon Center," and then she disappears into a crowd of trainers.

The Pokémon food actually isn't bad, and I gobble up the whole thing. Flare does the same, and Nurse Joy says, "Alright, now here's a Poképuff, donated by a trainer from the Kalos region!"

Nurse Joy sets a Supreme Poképuff in front of us and leaves, "Only one?" Flare asks.

"Only one," I sigh.

"Ladies first, Rosebud. You can have the first bite."

"No, Flare. You can have the first bite."

We argue about this for a while, and finally I say, "Flare, thank you. I will have the first bite."

He changes his mind, "No, actually, I'll have the first bite."

I laugh, "Be my guest, Flare."

I wouldn't have let him have the first bite if he was going to eat the whole thing… Of course, I whacked him on the head and made him apologize, but I was still deprived of my first Poképuff.

Nurse Joy seems to appear out of nowhere, and says, "I'm sorry, you two, for making you choose so late in the day, but I think you two need trainers."  
Flare looks like he's going to throw up the Poképuff.

"Trainer?" I sputter, "but.. but… NO WAY!"

Apparently it looks like I am delighted to choose a trainer, because Nurse Joy smiles and says, "Now that's the spirit! There are only three people who will take Flareon, but about… 628 trainers who will take you, Roselia."

I shake my head and hug Flare. Nurse Joy finally realizes that Flare and I have to stick together, and she says, "Aaah, so you two need to stick together. Alright, I'll go make the announcement."

Five minutes later, Nurse Joy comes back, "Well, apparently, a Flareon in there really makes people not want it… Whatever! You still have three people in line!"

I laugh while Flare's tail starts to puff up, "Wow, Flare, you took out 625 trainers! Amazing!"

Flare pushes me off of the bench and the first trainer arrives.

He has glasses and long black hair. When I say long, I mean waist long, and it doesn't even look good. It's greasy, as if he hasn't showered in a long time, and his smell states that, as well. His voice is gravelly and he says, "Heyo. M'name's Corpius and m'favorite Pokémon is Skitty. I have a team of them, but they all won't battle anymore and they won't move. They're weird."

Nurse Joy, who is sitting next to me, whispers, "If any one of you don't like any of these people, you can poke my arm, okay?"

Flare jumps to the other side of Nurse Joy so we can listen to the trainers better. Corpius continues, "I'm really smart and I got 10,000th place in the Ecto Cup out of 10,000 people… and if I had both of you, I think I'd be able to get to…"

Flare and I poke Nurse Joy immediately, who says, "I'm sorry, Corpius, but you must sit down now."

A girl flounces in, and she looks vaguely familiar. She says in a super high pitched voice, "Hi, my name is Serena de Bouffala Francois Nene Arglebarf Jondogz Moofoolila Silverfish. I got ninth place in Battle Besties with my Cherrim, Sylveon, Talonflame and Ponyta. Um… I still have those two empty slots in my Battle Besties team and I'd love it if you'd join it because you'd both make amazing additions to my collection. Oh, did I say collection? Cause I really meant… um… team!"

And then it hits me. That hot pink dress, the honey colored hair! That Serena de Bouffala Francois Nene Arglebarf Jondogz Moofoolila Silverfish girl is the same girl as the Serena we saw on the field today! I poke Nurse Joy repeatedly, and Nurse Joy calls out, "I'm sorry, Miss Serena, but you must sit down now."

Lastly, a girl with jet black hair steps out. She has violet eyes, but she hides one in a curtain of hair. She is wearing knee-high black socks, black high tops, a purple mini skirt, a black tee shirt with a dark angel printed in the middle, and a violet hoodie. She says in a voice just loud enough to be heard, "Hi… my name is Lunaria Knight and I am a Pokémon battler, in my current team I only have the Chikorita I got for my starter, now a Meganium, a Staravia named Star, a traumatized Eevee named Teri, my Ponyta named Flameback and… my Darkrai named Deathwing."

My mouth falls open, "Darkrai?" I squeak.

Lunaria smiles, "Um… I didn't catch him. He was sent to me by my sister, Juliana before she… disappeared in the Kanto region. Deathwing was passed down from my eldest sister, Robyn, from her friend, who apparently died on the journey… The Nurse Joy in Kanto sent me Teri, as well. I still have to go home to give Teri back to Mom…"

Flare pads up to Lunaria and rubs her leg affectionately, and Lunaria bends down to rub his head, "Oh, Flare…"

Flare steps back, surprised, "Oh, I'm sorry, Flareon. It's just… you look exactly like my sister's Flareon, who was named Flare," Lunaria sighs. "He was even about to get married to a Roserade… her name was Rosebud. Rosebud's trainer… Romeria, disappeared with Juliana the same day. They were traveling together. Juliana said so much about Romeria in her postcards. The last one she sent said that she was going to The Pokémon Tower."

I step forwards and Lunaria says, "I think I know your names… You're Flare," she says, gesturing at Flare, and you're… Rosebud… aren't you?"

We nod, and Nurse Joy bursts into applause, "Oh, Lunaria, you have won their hearts! I can tell!"

* * *

_Yay! You survived! Um...I haven't gotten any comments besides the one from Venusaurite... please comment! :D  
_


	5. Chapter 5: Who am I?

_We referenced Lavender Town right off the bat. Of course, I don't know what 'toothbrushes' means. Um... Venusaurite! Please explain yourself to me! This chapter was mostly written by Venusaurite, because I was off of vacation at the time. Hehehe... See ya!_

* * *

**Lunaria**

When Nurse Joy announced that there was a shiny Roselia and a Flareon in need of a trainer, I'd immediately thought of my older sister. Juliana… Even Ecto's Nurse Joys knew what had happened to my sister and her best friend. Since the "accident", Pokemon Tower has been swarming with tourists. The only interesting thing that's been found is a shiny Gastly. Everything else has been a bunch of hooey. The person who caught the shiny Gastly swears the heard a ghostly howl, yelling something that sounded vaguely like 'toothbrushes' as soon as the pokeball clicked shut. Some people say they've seen the ghosts of two teens wandering around Lavender Town. I don't believe in ghosts.

Juliana… Romeria… I never met Romeria, but from what Juliana told us about her in her postcards, she was a true friend. Juliana also had told me about the Flare/Rosebud romance. I wonder what happened to Rosebud after Flare died. There's been rumors running around about Romeria's PC, and what magical pokemon are inside it, and hackers have been after her password for ages. No one's cracked the code yet. I'm so glad that Juliana sent Deathwing to me. My eldest sister, Robyn was a nut about Deathwing. Deathwing was from her friend, who had died on their journey in the Unova Region, and Robyn gave that Darkrai everything. Deathwing has told me a few stories, but after a while, his voice cracks and he disappears into his Pokéball.

I guess I'm obsessed. Ever since Juliana's death I've been trying to find her, trying to find out what happened. Mom, of course, never believed the note that Nurse Joy had given us about the disappearance and probable death of my sister and her good friend. I'd left the next day to start my journey, and Mom facetimed me, saying, "Hey, do you have Teri? I need to talk to her and… don't go to the Kanto Region… I'm going to investigate Juliana's disappearance. I have to find her…" then my mom broke down in tears.

Mom came back home two days ago, according to a letter she had sent via Starlette, her shiny Staraptor. She wanted to see Teri soon, so if I sent the poor Eevee to Professor Pine, she could get the professor to send Teri to Professor Rowan, where she could then pick her up. Of course, when I received Teri from the Nurse Joys, I immediately sent her out, but she wouldn't stop shaking. Teri looked at me with wide, unseeing eyes when she first came out of the Pokéball and whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… Juliana told me to run… run… run…"

And she had burst into tears. I picked Teri up, hugging her like a baby, trying to calm her, but she kept yelling things like, "Oh, Misery, Blaire… Miya, Odette, Aria… Juliana!"

I knew that Miya, Odette, Sparks, Aria and Flare were Juliana's Pokémon, but the others? Misery? What kind of name was that? Well, Juliana _had_ told me how Romeria was a nut job, so… Misery and the other one were probably hers. Teri still hasn't stopped sobbing, and as much as I love the Eevee, it's gotten very annoying.

I chose the Ecto region on purpose. I don't believe in all the ghosts-and-goblins stuff people say about Ecto, but if my sister is really dead, it could be a start.

* * *

_Um... was this chapter too short? I'm working as hard as I can to make the chapters good, but length is bad for good stories, so some of the chapters will probably be gobble-de-goop... eh, whatever. Thank you, to all you readers out there, my peeps! All ye readers, you are my friends, right? Um... I hope that wasn't a 'Weirdo. Juliana, you are the most weirdo person I've ever known. I don't even know you. God.' :( but more like a 'Yes! You are oh, so totally my friend! My best pal! Yeah!' :)_

_Enough of the weirdness. Next chapter coming out today because I think this is too short! One after that is... Tuesday? I'm on vaca. I'm all confuzzled._


	6. Chapter 6: Fourth of July

_Um... I have this rule for myself, that if a chapter has less than 1,000 words, it needs another one to make it better. Of course, that rule is going to ruin me some day... but until that day, it's a rule! Onward, my peeps!_

* * *

**Lunaria**

With Rosebud and Flare following me, I step out of the center and into the bright sunset. The sky is pink. I hate pink. Purple and black. Nothing else. That's why I love Rosebud's roses so much. SO… FREAKING… AMAZING! I've never had a shiny before. I wonder if that's what's in Romeria's PC. It's become almost a legend, like John Henry's Hammer or The Holy Grail. Somebody's already hacked into Juliana's PC and has taken everything, even her shiny Panpour. Juliana sent me messages saying that he was absolutely evil. Apparently, he had somehow set Romeria's pants on fire, forcing her to buy a new pair. I never got a description of those pants, but then Juliana had also said that Romeria's fashion sense was also pretty nutty.

Suddenly, a Vibrava barrels into me and I tumble into a bush, but the Vibrava doesn't care about _me_, and she leaps at Rosebud's face. Rosebud shrieks, "What the heck?"

Flare leaps, and yells, "Get away from her!"

The Vibrava looks hurt, "You don't remember me?" she whines.

"Oh, crud," Flare curses, using Curse at the same time.

Rosebud looks like she's about to choke, "Arielle?"

"Arielle," she confirms.

"Arielle!" someone shrieks, "GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" followed by a long string of less-than-complimenting names.

"July?" I laugh when I recognize the voice, "Where have you been?"

My friend's face appears from around a curve in the road, "Oh hey, Lunaria, here, let me give you a hand," she says, pulling me up with so much force my arm is almost pulled out of the socket.

"Haven't seen you in a while!" I say, combing my fingers through my hair to remove all the leaves and twigs.

July, as always, is wearing her favorite pair of black boots and a black shirt. She's a lot like me— the weird, somewhat nerdy girl in our school, the emo freak, except her hair is light brown, like the color of perfectly cooked pancakes.

"Yeah, same, have you been in Ecto for a while?" July replies. Behind her is a scene of chaos— Arielle the Vibrava is attempting to hug Rosebud, who is freaking out and running in circles, while Flare is using Curse, over and over again, and simultaneously cursing, yelling words that only July would actually say in public. July seems to not notice or if she does, not care.

"Yep, I've been here for half a year now," I say, watching Flare use a poorly aimed Ember attack.

"Just got here yesterday," July flips her hair, making me jealous for the millionth time that my hair isn't as smooth as hers, "It's kinda spooky. Stuff you'd like,"

July is the only person who really knows me. My mom doesn't count. She knows that I'm terrified of Darmantian, she knows how embarrassed I felt when the teacher caught me writing stories in my notebook and read each and every word to the whole class. It took the whole period of humanities, but I remember glancing at July and she was blushing two shades darker than me.

"Actually, I'm here to find my sister," I say, glancing at Rosebud and Flare to make sure they're not hurt.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," July bends down to hug me. She's three inches taller than me and always makes a huge deal about it, "I'm sorry,"

"Don't. So many people have said that recently, and it's not Juliana I'm looking for. It's Robyn," I shrug her off, "Can you call off your attack Vibrava, please?"

July finally looks back at the massacre behind her and laughs, "Oh, they're just having fun!"

Rosebud screams, "No, we're really not!" but is drowned out by Arielle the Evil Vibrava's maniacal laughter.

"We need a nickname for her," Flare grumbles, "How about 'Nasty Evil Destruction-Causing Irritating She-Devil'?"

"Suits her," Rosebud coughs.

"Please?" I ask again.

"Oh, fine," July pouts, holding out Arielle's pokeball. Arielle zips back into it as a red flash.

"So, ready to meet my team?" I ask, holding out five pokeballs.

"Doesn't those five, plus the Flareon and Roserade, make eight?" July's forehead furrows with the mere thought of doing simple math.

"Seven, actually, and Rosebud and Flare aren't actually caught yet," I explain, throwing my team into the air.

Star, Selena, Teri, Flameback, and Deathwing all pop out of their homes. Star doesn't touch the ground, flying circles around my head as soon as she comes out. Selena yawns, the flower petals around her neck expelling pleasant-smelling powder. The fire on Flameback's mane flares once. Deathwing looks at July quizzically. Teri looks around, panicked, and when her gaze settles on July, her eyes go so wide I can see the tears balanced delicately on the rims.

"Romi?" she asks, and then the tears fall.

"Huh. Nice team," she observes, staring at Teri like she's a pile of trash buzzing with Venonat.

Teri starts wailing some more, screaming in July's direction, "I'm so sorry, Romeria, please forgive me! He… He… I'm so sorry I couldn't stop him, he killed Juliana and…"

"What?" I ask, surprised, "What did you just say, Teri?"

Teri ignores me, throwing herself at July's feet. July steps away quickly, spooked by my crazy Eevee, "Teri, return," I say, making the Eevee return to the Pokéball.

"Huh," I say, staring at the red and white sphere in my hand, "I wonder what who 'he' is."

July, staring back at Deathwing, says, "I don't know… She called me Romi and Romeria, too. I don't look too much like Romi, do I?"  
"July, I only think your hair is the same color as your cousin's hair, nothing else," I say, "You did get the news about your cousin's disappearance, right?"

July nods, "First Juliana, then my cousin? I wonder what's going on… Romeria never sent anything back home, not even any Pokémon! I wish I knew what happened on her journey."

"You didn't know that Romeria and Juliana were traveling together?" I exclaim.

"They were?" July asks.

"Yes and they died on the same day in the Pokémon Tower," Deathwing says from behind July.

July shrieks bloody murder before turning around to punch the Darkrai. After the Darkrai makes her fist pass through him, he continues talking, "I heard from someone I met a few months ago, that the day Nurse Joy found Teri trembling in front of the Pokémon Center that two different screams had come from the top floor of the Pokémon Tower. Also, when somebody flew towards the top of the tower, that person noticed a Luxio's tail from under a pillar."

"Sparks!" I realize. "Deathwing, why didn't you tell this to me earlier?"

July says, "I _do_ know of a myth about the Pokémon Tower."

I do too. I know this myth because of Mom. When I was younger, maybe three years ago, when I was seven, Juliana and I would sit with Mom, and she would tell scary stories about a zombie called Buried Alive. After a while, I decided that Buried Alive was just one of those tall tales, but ever since Juliana died, my fears of the zombie have been reawakened.

"Oh, well would you look at the time," July remarks, looking at my watch. "We should go get a room at the Pokémon Center."

"Well," I say, "I was actually thinking I'd get to Suto Mountain by dawn…"

"Lu, look at Rosebud and Flare," July says, "They look so tired, don't they?"

Rosebud and Flare are sitting on a tree branch, staring at the moon. I return all of my Pokémon, except for Deathwing, who requests to go to the forest to practice his Shadow Ball.

"LET'S EAT!" July yells, running into the Pokémon Center.

"Sorry, Flare, Rosebud, but we have to go back into the Pokémon Center to eat," I say, "I'll give you two Poképuffs to make up for it?"

Rosebud jumps off the tree and onto my head in reply, "I take that as a yes," I laugh.

Flare makes a laughing sound, and then leaps to the ground. As we walk into the Pokémon Center, I wonder whether _Buried Alive_ was the one who killed my sister. As I leisurely walk into the building again, I pluck Rosebud off of my head and carry her the rest of the way to the cafeteria, where July waits for me.

* * *

_Um... comments comments comments... thanks?_


	7. Chapter 7: Meet the crew

_What happened that night. Filled with Woobat onsies, evil Mega Blaziken *glares*, screaming, and dead Flareon... oooooooooh_

* * *

**Rosebud**

I think Lunaria is pretty cool, but… she might just be a little obsessed with her sisters. She doesn't pay much attention to her Pokémon, but deep inside, I know she's strong in battling. She also has killer Poképuffs that she says her mom baked. One has a Gracidea flower on it, and it is so beautiful, I can barely eat it, but I do. Flare's Poképuff is really spicy, and I can tell because of the way he breathes with his tongue out like a retarded Heatmor. Flare likes spice, but I think this is overkill.

"You guys enjoy?" Lunaria asks groggily. She's changed into her pajamas, a pair of black leggings and a loose purple shirt.

"Yes!" I cheer, dancing around her legs. My pokepuff tasted like honey and sunshine. It reminded me of Sinnoh and it was amazing.

"Yeth," Flare says, still trying to cool his tongue.

July snorts and I look at her. Flare snorts back at her, noticing her fuzzy Woobat onesie and Buneary slippers.

"Hey, it's comfy!" she protests.

Flare spits an ember at her, or at least tries to. It ends up a roaring inferno, directed towards July. She shrieks and runs, Flare's attack barely singing her Buneary slippers.

"Woah…" Lunaria says, "I knew that would increase your firepower, but…" she trails off, probably thinking about the dead Flareon that belonged to her sister.

"LUNARIA KNIGHT!" July booms, "WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING?!"

She doesn't answer.

"Flareon…" July bends down to rub Flare's head cautiously, "We need to have a battle. No type advantages. I can use a fire-type too… his name is Blaziken."

"Not one for Pokemon nicknames?" Flare asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't do it, Flare!" Lunaria warns him, "Blaziken is uber strong!"

"Stronger than Arielle?" Flare snorts, "She was a piece of cake."

"I beat you!" Arielle caws, popping out from her pokeball, "I can do it again!"

"You got beaten by a level 10 Budew at the time. Come on, Arielle, grow up," Flare taunts.

"Fine then. Battle Blaziken. He'll crush you with both hands behind his back. Blaziken always wins," Arielle says snottily.

"Alrighty," Flare narrows his eyes, "Blaziken, I challenge you to a battle."

July tosses an Event Ball in the air and Blaziken materializes. His talons are manicured and sharp and his feathers are glossy. Blaziken commands attention. I normally hate Pokémon like this, but Blaziken is just too strong and too powerful to hate. Or ignore for that fact. Flare gulps in regret.

Blaziken is staring at me like a weird perverted creep, and I hide behind Lunaria, who picks me up. July then says, "I'm gonna crush you!"

Deathwing drifts in through a wall, "Don't battle in the room," he says sagely as he floats out through the opposite wall.

Blaziken is still staring at me and I squirm nervously in Lunaria's arms, "July, can you pleeeaaase return that weird perverted creep?"

"Heh. Weird perverted creep. Heheh," Blaziken chuckles.

It's the first time I've heard him speak and his voice is raspy and low, radiating power. Blaziken is hard to ignore.

"Flare?" I ask.

"What?" he asks back.

"Do you know what level Blaziken is?"

Flare squints at Blaziken, then yelps and stumbles back, "HOLY ARCEUS no way. No… Way… I'm an idiot."

"What level?" I ask.

"Level (string of swearing) _96_."

"You _are_ an idiot," July says matter-of-factly, "My Blaziken has had Pokérus, he's beaten the Elite Four in Kalos single-handedly with a blindfold, _and_ he… uh… he knows TM26!"

"Two questions, Ms. IhaveaBlazikenandthatmakesmesomuchbetterthanallofyou, what is Kalos, and what in the world is TM26?" Flare rolls his eyes.

Teri busts out of her Pokéball, wailing about the consequences of eye-rolling, "Your eyes… are… a muscle… Oh, Misery!"

That sounds like the lyrics of an opera song that I know. Huh, weird. Lunaria sighs and returns the Eevee into her Pokéball, "I'm sorry," she apologizes.

Deathwing drifts through the wall he'd left through just a moment before, "Don't battle in the room," he repeats as he drifts back through the other wall.

"Let's just go to bed, okay, everyone?" Lunaria rubs her temples.

I nod, "I agree with you."

"Aww, can we kill him first?" Blaziken asks his trainer, pointing at Flare.

"No, we're going to bed first," July says.

"Just a little bit?"

"The answer is still no."

"Please?"

"No still means no."

"Why ya gotta be so rude?" Blaziken demands.

"Don't sing it, Blaziken. That's even more annoying than Romeria's Eevee. She was singing Pompeii 24/7 and I don't need a Blaziken singing Rude, too."

But July is too late. The Blaziken has started to sing.

His voice is all scratchy and rough and sounds like someone trying to shred pebbles on a cheese grater. I stuff my roses in my ears and Lunaria drops me onto her bed, covering her own ears.

"CUT IT OUT BLAZIKEN!" July bellows.

I can't believe she's acting like a parent to Blaziken. He could probably Blaze Kick her all the way to Johto if he wanted to.

"WHY YA GOTTA BE SO RUDE?!" Blaziken retorts loudly, "DON'TCHA KNOW I'M HUMAN… oh wait, I'm not human…. hmm…"

He stops singing, trying to figure out a word to replace "human". Lunaria and I both uncover our ears gratefully.

"Man, Blaziken, I think Romeria's Eevee would sound better than that," Lunaria says.

In an instant, Blaziken is hovering above her, a Focus Blast held at her throat.

"What did you say?" he narrows his eyes.

"Nothing!" Lunaria lies, smiling nervously, "Nothing at all!"

"Good," he allows the blue sphere to fade and steps away with a vicious glance at Lunaria. I study him thoughtfully. Blaziken is very, very strong, and likes to show off. He's very touchy about his singing skills, though. I wonder if anything else gets through his armor.

"Hey Blaziken," I ask, "Are you single?"

Flare shoots me a warning look.

"No," Blaziken picks his nails, "I have a girlfriend,"

"Really? Who is she?"

"None of your business, why?" Blaziken glares at me and I see cold fire in his eyes.

"Just wondering!" I say cheerfully.

"Alright, bedtime for bonzo," July returns Blaziken and Arielle, who has miraculously remained silent, to their Pokéballs. She lines up her Pokéballs on the nightstand, six of them, and crawls under the pink covers that the Pokémon center provided. Lunaria looks distastefully at her bed with matching blankets before lying down and pulling them up to her armpits.

"Flareon?" July asks after a long, awkward silence.

The lights have been shut off by yours truly.

Flare grunts sleepily, "What?"

"Can you, I dunno, sleep under the bed or something? Your glow is really distracting."

"Mmm," Flare groans, dragging himself under Lunaria's bed. I follow, half-asleep, and collapse onto Flare's warm body. He curls around me protectively, just like he did all those nights in the metal cage, and I fall asleep to the sound of his heart beating.

* * *

_I think this was a mostly Venusaurite chapter... good night. :)_


	8. Chapter 8: ERROR

_I can't let go of Lavender Town... Sorry guys! I went on vacation and there was no wifi or computer... so all out on one day... :)_

* * *

**?**

She's crying again. I sigh, wishing I could tell her it's okay, but it isn't. It really isn't okay.

"Romeria Ellory Grace," I say, crossing my arms, "I'm going to be stuck with you for the rest of eternity and you're going to waste it all crying over that stupid shiny Gastly?"

Romi nods, "All of my Pokémon, too."

I know how she feels. Taking a Pokéball off of my belt, I press the button in the center again. Nothing comes out but a soft cry. A Flareon's cry, to be exact. "Romi," I ask, "Why did we have to die?"

"We didn't have to, Juliana. Or at least, you didn't. I told you to run, but nooooooo, you just _had _to avenge me, or whatever you were doing," Romeria says grumpily, folding her transparent arms.

I sigh, "I hate death."

"Doesn't everybody?"

"Why don't we do something productive with eternity and scare people out of their shoes?"

"Why not."

"Okay, so that's not a good idea."

I try to sit down on a rock to watch a trainer talking to his Charmander, but I phase through the rock and land on the ground, "I seriously don't understand this," I say. "How come we phase through rocks, but we can't phase through the ground?

"Laws of death, I guess," Romeria says.

"I guess," I reply.

Romi's tears keep coming, "One good thing," she says, "about death, is that we never run out of tears."

"Romi, uh… I've heard that your PC's become a legend," I say, trying to cheer her up.

"They'll never guess the password."

"They already hacked into mine."

"Thank Arceus. I'll bet some idiot took Splash, that devil. Set fire to my favorite pair of jeans."

"I wish Splash never did that. Now you're stuck in _those_ pants for the rest of eternity."

"You're just… jealous…"

We both burst into tears, hugging each other, "Oh, Romi… I wish I could say that we'll be alright."

"I know. We aren't, and we never will be," she replies.

"I wish we could at least visit my family. I miss Robyn and Lunaria," I sigh.

"I don't have anyone that I miss in particular… maybe Maia, but no humans."

"Okay, so you miss your Tepig. What about uh… what's her name? June? August?"

"July."

"That's her name! What about her?" I ask.

"Sort of."

"Then let's try to get out of this town and back to them."

Romi nods and we turn towards the Pokémon Tower together.

"On three," Romi says.

"One," I say.

"Two," Romi says.

"Three," we say together, and together…

We disappear.

* * *

Still need comments.


	9. Chapter 9: Breaking news

_What is there to say? Smudges in paper... very unreliable, yet... how do people take pictures with ghosts? Or ghost type Pokémon? Hm... _

* * *

**Lunaria**

July whacks me with the sleeve of her Woobat onesie, "Wake up, Lunaria! I've been watching TV and there's breaking news again!"

I sit up, and look at the screen. The reporter is pointing at a picture taken at Lavender Town of the Pokémon Tower. He says, "Remember that accident from about seven months ago at the Pokémon Tower concerning two girls, Romeria Grace and Juliana Ato?"

"Holy Arceus!" I yell, probably waking up our neighbors, "but they're dead? How could they be—"

Rosebud crawls out from underneath my bed to check out the TV. Flare stares up at the screen from the other side of the bed, and July covers my mouth with her hand.

The reporter continues, "Well, in this photo, some say that they can _see_ the two girls."

They zoom in on a white smudge in the paper. I look closer at it, and I decide that it looks like two girls staring at the Pokémon Tower, "July, do you see that?"

"Yes," she replies, "and it's scary. It _does_ look like Romeria."

The reporter drones on, "The photographer was looking at the tower when he saw the two girls' ghosts, and he immediately took a picture with his phone. He faintly heard a 'three', and they both faded away. He sent this picture in just last night, but many of the news channels are interested. Stay tuned for news about possessed Hello Skitty cream…"

July turns the TV to mute. "What the heck?" she screams.

Flare leaps onto the bed, stretching his legs, and I stare, dumbfounded, at the screen, "They're ghosts."

"Seriously, Lu, think! WHAT IS HAPPENING?" July shrieks.

"Well, Ecto is known for it's ghosts, so it's possible that they're leaving Kanto to check out Ecto… or they could be coming to haunt us?"

"Don't scare me like that," July says.

Rosebud, unnoticed, starts rummaging through my bag.

"Well, it's possible!" I yell.

"Why would they want to haunt… oh, Arceus! What if Romeria realized that I was the one who took her Mega Blazikenite?"

I cough, "_You_ took her Mega Blazikenite? But you were all, 'Whoever took it is super evil and so underhanded!'"

"It was all for the Blazikenite."

I roll my eyes and suddenly, Flare makes a weird noise and rushes over to my bag. Flare pulls Rosebud out of the bag and drops her off on the bed. Rosebud has gotten tangled in the ribbons that I keep in my bag— the purple and black ones. Rosebud giggles and blushes, "Rosebud…" I sigh. "What were you doing in my bag?"

"Poképuffs!" She laughs.

I untangle the ribbons and tie the black ribbon to her purple rose, and the purple ribbon to the black rose, "You get ribbons instead. Rosebud, I can't have you searching through my bag if you're going to leave it a big, fat mess!"

I gesture at the bag, now with potions strewn everywhere and my black shard knife (all of my sisters have at least one. Robyn, Juliana, me.) is sticking straight up. I quickly dump all of the potions into the bag and toss a normal Poképuff at Flare, "Reward for catching the criminal."

Flare laughs at Rosebud, who glares at him and me. I laugh, "I'm kidding. Here," as I throw another Poképuff at the Roselia. July coughs, "Hello, there could be ghosts coming to eat our faces?"

"Pssht," I say, "why would our family want to eat our faces?"

"_I stole her Blazikenite!_" she shrieks.

"All criminals have to be punished somehow. I punished Rosebud by tying ribbons to her roses. I'm sure she doesn't like that," I say, glancing at Rosebud.

Rosebud loves the ribbons. She runs around in circles, ribbons fluttering behind her, "Huh," July remarks, "she definitely doesn't like that."

Flare is watching Rosebud go around and around in circles.

"Uh… let's just change. I wanna get to Suto Mountain before lunchtime," I say.

July nods, "'Kay. Can you feed my Pokémon while I change?" she asks, throwing a large sack of berries at me.

I barely catch the bag as she releases all of her Pokémon from their confinements. Arielle immediately jumps onto Rosebud, who squeaks in surprise, Blaziken and Flare start to growl at each other, and all of her other Pokémon just stand/sit there. I let all of my Pokémon loose, too, and they barely fit in the room. Deathwing, who had gone back into the ball sometime during the night, says, "Don't battle in the room."

I roll my eyes, "Deathwing—"

"YOUR EYES ARE A MUSCLE!' Teri shrieks.

I give her a Poképuff and an Oran berry, then I return her to her Pokéball. Arielle screams, "BERRIES!" and tackles me out of nowhere, clawing for the sack July gave me. I shove her off my face and toss her a Sitrus berry, which she chews with her mouth open.

Blaziken just spears berries on all of his talons and eats them one by one. I catch Flare glancing vehemently at him as he finishes the last berry, "Show-off," he growls.

July's Manectric refuses berries, saying that she'd much rather prefer a Deluxe Poképuff. I give her my last one, which she devours and then complains about it.

"It's too dry," the Manectric sniffs, "Even Arielle could make better Poképuffs."

July's Gardevoir is considerably more polite. She takes a Cheri berry in silence and eats quietly, looking at Blaziken sucking berry juice off his fingers with disdain.

July's Houndour almost takes off my fingers when I offer her a Pecha berry.

My friend's last Pokémon is a Girafarig. I expected something a little more showy from July. Nevertheless, I offer the Girafarig what I think is a Jaboca berry but it scuttles away from my outstretched hand like I'm trying to poison it.

Then I notice why July has him in her party- the Girafarig is missing two front legs. In their place are two metal poles that open out into a hoof-shape.

Finally, July comes out of the bathroom, wearing a gray t-shirt and jeans. At least, I think the shirt is gray until she comes closer, and realize that it's a white shirt covered in one word, over and over: MISSING.

I shudder involuntarily, remembering my mom when Juliana died.

"She's not dead," I remember my mom saying, eyes glazed with pain, "She's just… missing. We'll find her soon. Just missing."

"Hey, Lu, you okay?" July asks, staring at me worriedly. I shake my head to clear my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just remembering," I explain, taking random clothes out of my bag and going to the bathroom to change.

I enter the room again wearing my purple mini skirt, black leggings, a purple shirt with a Mismagius hidden in a corner, and a black hoodie. July looks up at me from her legless Girafarig.

"Girl, you look good," she says, drawing out the word _good_.

"Thanks. Yeah. You too," I reply, "What's Girafarig's name?"

"This is Meeko," July explains simply, rubbing Meeko's head. He shoots me a frigid glance.

"What's up with his legs?" Rosebud blurts out, then covers her mouth with a rose, "Sorry, if that's, like, really rude."

_It's okay, _Meeko's voice echoes in my head.

July scratches between his horns, "Meeki, you want to tell or should I?"

_You tell._

"Alright," July says, sitting cross-legged on the floor and Meeko lies down awkwardly next to her, folding his metal legs underneath him. I get the feeling this is going to be a really long story so I sit on the ugly pink bed.

She clears her throat, "Here goes."

* * *

_Written mostly by Venusaurite (I suppose you understand our system of writing now, right? Me: Juliana, Lunaria, etc. Venusaurite: Romeria, July, etc.)_


	10. Chapter 10: Story time

_Well, I've gotten through all the checking up and stuff... next chapter should be tomorrow/ August 24, 2014-ish? Meh. _

* * *

**Lunaria**

"I found Meeko soon after my Torchic evolved into a Combusken. I couldn't legally nickname it since it was a gift from my brother, but I called it Blaze and it didn't seem to mind. So, we were wandering around Route 214 in Sinnoh, near my hometown, Veilstone City, trying to get stronger. Back then, my party was small, only Alix and Blaze. Alix was a Kirlia, the strongest in my party at a good level 22. Blaze was level 19.

"We were walking through the tall grass, battling wild Pokémon, trying to get stronger. Blaze was proving to be a decent battler, and Alix was just tagging along for the sake of it. Blaze had been battling a Pokémon, a Sudowoodo, I think, and then I heard something scream.

"It wasn't human, or Pokémon, or even recognizable. It was just raw pain. The screams were ear shattering, but I couldn't hear them with my ears. It was just in my head. I thought I was going crazy until Alix threw herself on the ground, hands over her ears to shield them from the nonexistent noise. The Sudowoodo looked totally normal, and kind of confused, and I realized that only me and my team could hear it.

"Almost deafened by the noise, I recalled Blaze and Alix to their Pokéballs and tried to trace the noise. Lu, you probably know about those fences on 214, and that slowed me down a little, but I followed the screams all the way to Valor Lakefront. It was the furthest I'd ever been from home.

"There I saw Meeko for the first time. A pack of Houndoom was tearing at his body with sharp fangs, and he was nearly unconscious, but there was a trainer there who kept reviving him, telling him to fight, to ignore the pain. The trainer was also commanding the Houndoom pack to keep attacking.

"I almost couldn't watch. I ran up and shoved the trainer, who fell on his butt in the dirt. He stood up haughtily, saying 'Why'd you do that?'

"I said 'What are you doing to that poor Girafarig?' and he replied 'I'm making it stronger because it's weak'. I told him that he was hurting it, and he just shrugged. The Girafarig screamed again, and the noise almost ripped my head in half. Instead, it ripped my heart.

"I sent out Alix and Blaze and told them to attack the Houndoom. Blaze was amazing, he just focus-blasted every Houndoom. Alix ran into the fight unnoticed and used Telekinesis to lift the Girafarig over to me. Blaze knocked out the last Houndoom and ran over to me, wanting to help.

"I saw the trainer approach the Houndoom pack. He kicked one, a female, who cried out and woke up. He began yelling to her that she was weak, that she was worthless, kicking her the entire time. Her mate woke up and tried to attack the trainer, but the trainer took out a small gun and shot him.

"That was enough for me. I went up to the trainer but before I could touch him, he had the gun pointed at my head. 'Stop messing with my business' he said calmly, and his finger was threatening to pull the trigger. 'It's my business as well' I said back, as calmly as I could with a gun about to blow my brains out, 'I don't want you to hurt any more Pokémon'. 'Watch me' said the trainer, and then he turned the gun towards another fainted Houndoom and shot it.

"He shot three more Houndoom before looking back at me 'See, you didn't do anything about that.'

"I grabbed for the gun but the trainer was so much taller. He raised it above his head and whacked his elbow against my face. I fell to the ground and watched as the gun turned to the Girafarig. The trainer shot and missed. I got back up and stood in front of the Girafarig, turning to face the trainer.

"He raised an eyebrow 'I'll shoot you'. I said 'You don't have any bullets left'. He looked at the gun 'Fine then. You can have them all. I have stronger Pokémon anyway'. The trainer handed me eight Pokéballs- seven for the members of the pack and one for the Girafarig. I returned them all and raced back home to the Pokémon Center. The five dead Houndoom were incinerated and I was told to spread the ashes while the Pokémon center looked at the other Houndoom and the Girafarig.

"When I came back, Nurse Joy told me the remaining two Houndoom were in bad condition. They both had bullet wounds from weeks ago. The female Houndoom, the one who had been kicked, had a broken rib and was seven months pregnant. The trainer, who I googled, apparently was named Horace and regularly shot his Pokémon "to make them stronger".

"Nurse Joy wasn't even sure the Girafarig would live. They did a long surgery on him and wouldn't tell me what they did to him. I was sleepless for seventy-two hours, living on caffeine, waiting for the Girafarig to wake up. Nurse Joy actually kicked me out of the Pokémon Center so I could go home and get sleep. My brother had come back from Hoenn, and apparently he had heard about the incident. We talked for a few hours or so about Blaze and travels, and I told him about Horace, and then he told me to get some sleep. I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

"I woke up the next afternoon and instantly got dressed and headed over to the Pokémon Center. Jaden came with me- he wanted to see the Houndoom and Girafarig that I had almost died for. The two Houndoom were doing better, and the male took an instant liking to my brother. The female was shy and scuttled away from humans, pinning her ears to her neck and charging up a fire fang.

"Two weeks later, my brother had to go back to Hoenn, and I let him take the male Houndoom, who had also taken a liking to Jaden's Mightyena. They had pups about a year later and are a proficient double battle team.

"A month after that, the Houndoom I kept had pups. She became even more frightened of humans, and when I got close to her pups, she would actually attack me. I was finally let in to see the Girafarig, and it had lost both front legs in the fight. It was terrified of my Houndoom, her pups, and of people, and only trusted me. We grew really close while my Houndoom seemed to only grow more distant. I finally looked on GTS to see what people would take for a Houndoom, but nothing good showed up.

"Then, one night, I was attacked by a wild Machoke. I had no Pokémon with me, and I was so close to the Pokémon Center. I tried to get over to the doors to grab a Pokémon, any Pokémon, but the Machoke blocked my way and used Thunderpunch on me. I felt pain shoot through me faster than one of Horace's bullets, but I got back up. The Machoke started using Focus Punch, and I saw it coming towards my face. I remember thinking _Oh, Arceus, this is the end, isn't it?_

"Then a black shape barreled towards the wild Machoke and knocked it off balance, biting it and scratching it. The Machoke fainted almost immediately, and I saw my savior— it was the distrusting Houndoom.

"When I got back to the Pokémon Center, I decided to name the Pokémon I had saved, since they were officially mine. The Houndoom was dubbed Laila, and the Girafarig was named Meeko.

"Six months later, Laila's pups were ready to be rehomed. I gave three to Romi, one to my dad, one to a friend's uncle, and the other two were wonder traded. The three pups are probably in Romeria's PC right now, and that's why I want to get in it first. I want to reclaim the pups.

"Meeko is still scared of Houndoom, strangers, and guns. Laila is too, except she's not scared of Houndoom, and they show it in different ways. Meeko runs away from everything, but it's in Laila's nature to be aggressive, and so she attacks everything that makes her nervous."

July seems to have finished her long story and leans back, folding her arms. Laila the Houndoom has come up to July during the story and has her head on July's lap. Meeko has fled to the other side of the room. I laugh a little bit.

"Can I tell a long, important story, too?" Rosebud asks, waving her ribbons for emphasis.

"No," I tell her, watching her head fall in disappointment, "We have to go to Suto Mountain, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, where's that?" Rosebud questions, excited again.

_Many miles away_, Meeko says sagely, _It will take the journey of a couple months to reach the base of the Mountain of Suto. And then many more months to reach the top._

"Really?" Rosebud squeaks, nearly falling off the bed.

"Nah, we'll get back here before dinner," I tell her.

Rosebud leans over to whack Meeko, who scurries behind July, forgetting about Laila for a second. Laila raises her head and flicks a pink tongue over her lips. Meeko nearly trips twice in his haste to get away from the Houndoom.

Even Flare has to laugh, and I manage to forget about my sister for a few seconds.

* * *

_Hahahaha... even I still haven't read this chapter. Written solely by the one, the only, Venusaurite. -_-_


	11. Chapter 11: Take Over

_Aaah! Sorry sorry sorry sorry I totally forgot because I was doodling on my shoes and I was like, "This is awesome! :D" so I forgot until now. Sorry sorry sorry! Oh, and thank you to Wyldclaw for messaging me about the story! I was like, "AAAH HOLY CRUD I FINALLY GOT A REVIEW THAT MADE ME HAPPY! AAAAAAH!" Thanks again. Messages approved! ;)_

* * *

**Rosebud**

I feel like Flare. CRUD CRUD CRUD CRUD CRUD CRUD! We have to go to Suto Mountain, which Meeko says will take months, and Lunaria says will take about all day… I don't know who to trust! Of course, I should trust my trainer, but… I haven't known her for that long. She seems nice and all, but… she might also seem a bit odd.

Yikes. Nurse Joy is all, "You haven't caught them yet?" when she notices that Flare and I aren't in the Pokéballs of doom.

"No," Lunaria says, "I prefer not to confine my Pokémon."

"Uh… then why is everyone in their Pokéball?" I ask.  
"I should've caught you."

I look around for something to hide behind. That something turns out to be Flare, who is almost as nervous as I am. Suddenly, I feel jittery as we walk out of the Pokémon Center. We see a girl, with ghostly black hair and a small smile sitting on the highest bough on a tree. She is playing a song on her violin. The song calms us all and when it's over, the girl looks at me, smiles, and disappears. Lunaria stares at where the ghost was just sitting, "Did anyone else see that?" she murmurs.

"HOLY ARCEUS OF POOP!" July shrieks, "WHAT THE (really, really long string of cuss words) WAS THAT?"

"Oracion," a voice murmurs.

"What? Who said that?" Flare demands, fluffing up his tail.

Deathwing flickers into existence, "That was Oracion."

"What's that?" July demands.

Deathwing starts to explain but she holds up her hand to silence him, "Never mind, I don't care."

Deathwing snorts something about humans and disappears back into the shadows.

"No, wait! Deathwing— come on, Deathwing—" Lunaria grumbles, "Great, now we don't have anyone to explain that creepy song. Thanks a bunch, July."

"Hey, when Pokémon start talking info, I go to sleep," July protests, trying to block Lunaria's evil glare.

"Kay. Whatever. Suto Mountain. You coming?" Lunaria's tone is sort of forgiving but her eyes show otherwise.

"Is there cake?" July's eyes light up.

"No."

"Well… I dunno… I don't like to waste time…"

"I'll give you some… cookies. I was saving them for later."

"That's the spirit!" July cheers, "I'm coming!"

Deathwing trails behind us as we march towards Suto Mountain. He must be thinking of someone. Or something. I wonder what. Lunaria sighs, "Cake. Solstice. Robyn…"

"Lunaria, who's Solstice?" I ask.

"Nobody, why?" she asks.

I narrow my eyes, trying to see through her lie, but it's impenetrable. I wish I was a psychic type, it would be so cool to see what people think, and I could have known who Solstice was by now.

Lunaria sighs, flicking something from her eye, "I think I see Suto Mountain now. Ready to see where we're going, Rosebud?"

She lifts me up and puts me on top of her head, and I can see everything! I see a tall mountain, spiraling into the clouds. It looks like ice cream, and I really want to try eating it, but I can't. Even though I'm a little hungry, I can't go trying to eat a mountain. People might think I'm going cuckoo.

Flare looks like he's about to either puke or sneeze, or maybe both, and Lunaria lifts him up too, "Sorry, Flare! Do you see it?"

Flare sneezes, releasing a plume of fire right in front of our trainer, "HOLY (swear word… I'm sorry. I cannot control trainers from swearing.) FLARE LUNARIA ALMOST WALKED RIGHT INTO THAT! HOLY (more swear words…)!" July screams.

Lunaria laughs and ruffles Flare's puff of hair on top of his head. He makes a funny sound, probably some kind of purr. Then, he pulls Deathwing's master ball off of Lunaria's belt and tosses it at Lunaria. Lunaria and July, who I notice have stopped for now, both stare at Flare like he's a psychopath. I don't understand this notion, either, but Lunaria suddenly seems to understand why. "Flare, do you want to be caught?" she asks as nicely as she can.

He looks like a bobblehead.

Lunaria laughs, "Alright! I have a… few luxury balls?"

"Wait. Seriously?" July demands, "You don't have any normal Pokéballs?"

"Uh… when I came to Ecto, I didn't really want to beat the champion and all that stuff. I really only wanted to find my sister, and not catch any Pokémon…" Lunaria replies, looking at Flare and I sheepishly.

I only then realize that Lunaria's Pokémon are all too comfortable with her to be from this region, where she has only been for the past few months.

I step back, "You… you don't want me?" I ask quietly.

"No!" Lunaria exclaims, looking to the left. "It's just that… that…"

"You're trying to lie out of it?" Flare asks.

"No," Lunaria says, "It's just… I didn't want to catch any Pokémon because I didn't want to disrupt any life in the Ecto region."

July is looking on at the scene like a witness watching a crime, and she silently says, "Um… well… Lunaria said that she didn't want to disrupt any lives here, right?"

We all look at her. Flare sighs, "You know… I kind of still want to be caught. I want to give new trainers a shot."

Flare smiles and Lunaria mumbles, "I'm not a new trainer…"

July asks, "How are you going to keep them on your team?"

"Uh… I think we'll have to get past Suto Mountain to the next Pokémon Center until I catch them…" Lunaria says.

"Yup! Otherwise one will go straight to the PC!" July says, wiggling her fingers, "Evil, evil, yucky bad PC!"

"How would you know?" Lunaria asks.

"Uh… my Pokémon come out ready to beat each other to a pulp," July says matter of factly.

Lunaria rolls her eyes and we continue along the path. Flare stops to scratch his ear, "I wonder whether I just made a good decision or not. Do we really want to be caught?"

I push him forward, "Well, we'll just have to go with the flow, even if there are rocks and rapids in the river of life."

"That sounds so cheesy," Flare remarks.

"You sound cheesy."

"Your whole life sounds cheesy."

"You're annoying."

"I love you."

"I love you too… I think."

"Hey lovebirds! We're at the base of the mountain!" Arielle caws, and I realize July has let all of her pokémon out of their pokéballs.

"Good idea, July!" Lunaria throws her five pokéballs up in the air, and the team I have come to know pop out.

Deathwing looks at us, obviously fighting off a grin, Selena's vines shoot out of her neck, creating a heart design in the air, Star lands on a tree, staring at Flare and I suspiciously, and Flameback's… mane flares once. Teri, of course, stares at us with wide eyes, "Juliana… where are you? I see Flare… but… but…"

The rest of her mumbling is cut off when Juliana sadly puts Teri back into the Pokéball, "Kay," she says quietly, "let's eat lunch."

"What?" July asks.

"I SAID, LET'S EAT LUNCH!"

"Oh, Arceus! No need to yell at me, Arceus!"

Lunaria rolls her eyes at her friend, unpacking two sandwiches and eleven cans of Pokémon food. As we all sit down by some tree stumps, July snatches a sandwich, unwraps it, and sniffs it suspiciously, "What's in it?" she demands.

"Peanut butter and jelly."

"DELISH!" July shrieks, taking a huge bite out of the sandwich.

Flare and I cautiously eat the Pokémon food, which Arielle eats without a second thought. Now she wanders around, head stuck in the can, shrieking, "Who turned off the lights?"

When everyone is done and Blaziken has knocked the can off of Arielle's head, Lunaria pulls a bag out with a flourish, "And now, for dessert… we eat… Hello Skitty creampuffs…"

July whoops, snatching a pink creampuff with a candy shaped like a skitty on top. It looks a lot like a Poképuff, and I'm tempted to try one. Lunaria picks one up with two fingers, as if it is infected and she might turn pink or something like that, but she nibbles the side, "My mom _knows_ I hate pink, too…"

"Hey, they're amazing! If you don't like it, just give me the whole bag!" July yells, with pink cream all over her face.

Lunaria tosses the whole bag over to July and apologizes to us Pokémon, "Sorry for not having any Poképuffs… Jaeger ate the last one."

July's Manectric snorts, "And it tasted like sawdust."

Lunaria rolls her eyes, wiping the pink cream from her mouth and mumbling something about toothpaste. Suddenly, Lunaria sees something, "Holy…" she says, standing up.

July stuffs the almost empty bag of creampuffs into her bag and stands up, turning towards the direction that Lunaria is looking towards.

"What… is that?" July asks.

"I… wait. Why am I even talking to you?" Lunaria asks, glaring at July.

I notice a weird whitish mist clouding her eyes as her glare intensifies.

"I think it's a… Poképuff!" Jaeger yells, running towards the massive Poképuff blocking our way.

"Ooh, I want some too!" July whoops, running towards the pink poképuff.

"July, those are for Pokémon… never mind," Lunaria sighs, "you're so stupid."

I watch Jaeger and July go to town on the ginormous pastry, and eventually Selena, entranced by the pink Poképuff, joins in, tempted by the sweet aroma drifting through the air.

"Lu, you should have some! This is amazing!" July calls through a mouth full of Poképuff.

"Why should I listen to you, idiot?" Lunaria grumbles.

Suddenly, July stiffens, looking straight at me.

"Shiny Budew," she says, and her voice isn't hers at all. She sounds like she's swallowed a bunch of bees.

"July?" Lunaria asks, her voice small, "What's going on?"

July presses a button on her bracelet and Jaeger races towards Lunaria, in Mega Manectric form, teeth bared and claws outstretched. Lunaria yelps and ducks away, landing hard in the dirt.

"July! Snap out of it!" she yells, pushing herself up. I see Jaeger charge up a Thunderbolt attack and I throw myself in front of Lunaria, taking the shock for her. Of course, it hurts as if I'd jumped into a flame, but I shake it off.

"Lunaria, are you okay?" I ask.

"I am," she replies, "But what about July?"

* * *

_This, is where the story goes so whacko even _I_ think it's weird. I came up with the shr... wait. That's the next chapter. In two days time!_


	12. Chapter 12: Under Attack

_Due to _ever_ so popular demand (which means no demand at all... just Venusaurite), Flare has decided to narrate this short chapter! It barely reaches the 1,000 word mark, but it hit so it counts. Well, after September 2, 2014, I might forget to upload story consecutively because school starts for me... Ugh. School. Homework. Ugh. :(_

* * *

**Flare**

Rosebud hurls herself in front of Lunaria, stiffening slightly as the powerful electricity races through her body. I want to ask her if she's alright, but then something tackles me to the ground. Selena is on top of me, slashing at my face with stinging vines. I blow an Ember at her, and wiggle free. I hear Rosebud and Lunaria talking behind me, but I can't listen. It would distract me. I race towards Selena, cursing the whole time, then a quick attack, and she staggers back from my powerful blow.

"Selena?" Lunaria gasps, "Not you, too?"

"Mega! Meganium!" Selena cries, and it doesn't sound right, more like a machine than a living thing.

I tackle her, and Lunaria shrieks, "Stop it, Flare!"

I stop, hissing at the Meganium. Lunaria approaches Selena slowly, a hand held out like she offering food to her.

"Selena? It's me."

Selena looks like she's trying to swallow a golf ball. She remains completely still while Lunaria comes closer, and then she jerks towards her trainer, showering her with a barrage of Razor-sharp Leaves.

"Meganium!" she shrieks, stomping and shaking her head like a maniac.

Lunaria looks battered and bruised, and the leaves make several new cuts on her arms.

"Jaeger, finish it," I hear July command metallically, and then Jaeger leaps towards Lunaria, and I see the moment in slow-motion.

Lunaria turns around and sees Jaeger's claws coming towards her throat, and Lunaria throws her arms in front of her face, but Jaeger is on her in an instant. Jaeger suddenly stops in her tracks, and she is still as marble. Lunaria has fallen back, a sword in hand. She's unconscious as I stare at the sword, because it wasn't there a few seconds ago. Jaeger's eyes return to normal as she stares at her foreleg, oozing blood. Lunaria is still unconscious with her sword gripped in hand. It disappears slowly, and I realize that we're all staring at Lunaria.

"Uh… Jaeger?" I ask.

"That Poképuff tasted like sawdust," she sniffs, "Why's Lunaria on the ground? And why am I bleeding?"

July strides up to Jaeger and Lunaria, "Well done, Manectric."

"What? Uh, July, my name is Jaeger. Remember? You named me that." Jaeger says, looking at her trainer confusedly.

"Don't talk back to me," July shoves Jaeger out of the way.

She whimpers pathetically as she transforms back into a normal Manectric. July walks up to Lunaria, picks her up by the collar on her shirt, and drags her to the giant Poképuff. I can't bring myself to attack July,

Rosebud does though. She uses a Stun Spore, but July somehow dodges it. She keeps walking on. Rosebud wails, tackling July (not a Pokémon move, but just a normal tackle. Like football tackle). July grabs Rosebud by the thorn, and I Quick Attack July's hand. I feel bad because I hear a bone snap, but July continues walking towards the Poképuff. Rosebud falls to the ground as the giant Poképuff lets out a lot of cream, like a volcano, blinding us all. When we all wipe the Poképuff from our eyes, and I dab some of it into my mouth, "Hey, it actually _does_ taste like sawdust."

I feel my limbs jerking, and I can't stop it, and I walk towards Rosebud even though I don't want to.

"Flare?" she asks, and I pick her up and fling her into a tree. But it's not _me_, it's something else controlling me.

Rosebud cries out, and I feel like my heart is being wrenched out of my chest. I want to yell, "Rosebud, get out of here!" but I can't. Instead, I say, "You're mine now, Budew," and I feel like such a creep.

"Flare, cut it out!" she yells, and I try, I really try, but I can't stop.

And then it explodes. The weird machine behind me. I only just noticed it. It was round, with another circle inside of it. But the circle inside it is black, and I've realized it is a portal. However, my limbs have started to carry me towards the portal. I cringe and try to pull myself back, but I can't control my body. Rosebud leaps in front of me and pushes me back with her roses.

"Flare, this isn't you! What's…" she starts, then trails off, "that mist in your eyes…?"

I want to ask, "What mist?" but I know that I can't. I don't reply to her and instead seize her in my jaws and carry her towards the portal. Rosebud whacks me with her roses, "Flare, put me down!"

Rosebud… slapped me. She really slapped me. But I don't feel pain. I don't even feel it when Rosebud headbutts my side (with her thorns, too!). I'm invincible, but I don't want to be. I drop her, finally, and she brushes the side that she headbutted.

"Flare…" she murmurs, "look, you're bleeding."

I look, and that's when I realize that I have control over myself again. Jaeger howls and leaps at her trainer, "July, stop it right now!"

July flings her Pokémon aside, "Out of my way, weakling!" she yells.

Jaeger's eyes widen, filling up with sparkling tears, and I feel sorry for her. July has reached the portal, and she shoves Lunaria's limp body in, grinning madly, but I know she's not actually grinning. It's somebody else.

The portal whirrs loudly, then the dark circle starts to get smaller and smaller.

"July, stop it right now!" Rosebud yells, using Stun Spore, but she's too late.

Waving goodbye like a weirdo, July disappears into the portal, and the dark circle closes forever. Rosebud screams, "No!"

She does a flying tackle at the portal, but thuds against cold metal. We are left to wonder where our trainers have gone.

* * *

_Now, as I was saying two days ago (or last chapter), I came up with the sword. I've been watching Sword Art Online _and_ Fairy Tail, so I will reference Fairy Tail in a few chapters... Hmm... I wonder which... Meh, I don't remember, but I've gotten obsessed with those two anime. Oh, and if you can see, in the chapter 'Story Time', which Venusaurite wrote, she secretly referenced SAO even though she claims she doesn't watch it! She wrote, 'You're out of bullets!' right? And that is exactly what Kirito said in what, the... second episode of season two? Well, not Alfheim but Gun Gale Online? Yah? Well, see you!_


	13. Chapter 13: What the heck

_Um... I wrote this, Venusaurite put in some words (um... the one that might be a bad word...), and you read. Here is where my SAO references mostly are, and in maybe a few chapters, you'll see my hugely stupid Fairy Tail reference... Have fun with that!  
_

* * *

**Lunaria**

I wake up to a metal ceiling. Everything is blurry, so I reach up to rub my eyes, but I can't, my hand is heavy. It's tied to a metal chair, which is connected to the floor. I shudder as someone comes in. He has short gray hair and a Hariyama at his side.

"Lunaria Knight," he purrs.

"How do you know my name?" I ask, trying to sound badass.

"I know much more about you than your name," he lifts his eyebrows.

"Creep," I mutter under my breath.

"My name is President. You will cooperate or die," President states.

"What kind of name is President?" I ask.

The Hariyama roars and slaps me with it's huge hand. It almost dislodges my head from my shoulders, but I stay alive. Anger courses through my veins as the President says, "I have come to discover that you have my Flareon, as well as my shiny Budew."

"One question, aren't you supposed to be a good guy? Weren't you supposed to be taking Flareon to take care of some terrorists?" I ask.

"How did you know that?" he demands.

"I've been reading the story, duh! Good characters know what's going on in their story, idiot."

The Hariyama slaps the other side of my face.

"Hariyama, stop it," President orders, patting his Pokémon's back, "we need her alive to get Budew back."

"Shut up," I say.

Hariyama slaps me again, even though President told him not to. President finally says, "Alright, Miss Knight, I will tell you what my aim truly was. I am actually the President of the Ecto region, but I've been planning this since before your birth, before I was even president! My true ambition, it was truly just so I could control all of the regions! I have the Ecto region easy, but Sinnoh and everywhere else is so hard! That is why, I have decided that I must have a strong person by my side, and I have decided that the strong person, is you, my dear."

"What the heck? What do Flare and Rosebud have anything to do with this?" I demand, "and you're such a freak!"

"Oh, so you mean you've named the Flareon and the Budew?"

"Flareon and Roselia," I snap.

"Oh, so she evolved, did she?"

"Tell me why you want Flare and Rosebud, you creepy creephole!"

"Oh, don't call me a creepy creephole!"

"Tell me, creep!"

"Oh, well, since you insist…"

"STOP STARTING YOUR SENTENCES WITH 'OH'!" I scream.

"Oh, whatever. I must tell you my tale before the Mistress arrives. I—" he is broken off by his own Hariyama, who roars something that of course, I don't understand.

President tisks, "Hariyama, that is so badly mannered. Don't say that in front of the lady."

I take the time that he wastes talking to his Hariyama to chew up the ropes (yeah. I have sharp teeth. Got a problem with that?) from my right hand (my sword hand). I spit it out on the floor just as President turns around. President frowns at me, "It's not very ladylike to spit, you know."

"Who says I'm ladylike?" I ask.

"Well… I've been spying on you for quite a while, but I still have a few question for you… I never understood quite why, but you almost never stayed with your family at home, though I know you love them very much. Why?"

"Do I have to answer you?"

"Yes."

"Then I won't. Now, on a totally different subject, ever wonder why my last name is different from my family's last name?"

"Actually, that was my next question. Why?"

"Because of this!" I scream, pulling out my sword from it's almost invisible sheath.

I cut my left hand loose with one slash, then slashing at President and his accursed Hariyama. All I see is red. That bold color. The color of blood, the stuff coming from Hariyama, coming from President. I watch bitterly as my sword, the one I named Blackfyre, turns from black to red with all the blood I've spilled. When both of them are on the floor not actually too wounded, with probably only three deep wounds, I walk back to my chair, cleaning my blade gently with a cloth.

"It's because of my sword. My sword skills, as my coach called it. Wonder who my coach is? He was a trainer called Alex. I battled him with my sword, he with his Honedge. And I won. I beat those Honedge easily, and they were so much harder than you. To tell you the truth, I was actually the one who forged this sword. My first Pokémon, a Flareon, died while helping me make it. When he was making the fire bigger, he got too close to the liquid metal, and some of it dripped onto him… he's dead now. I like to think that his soul is with me whenever I wield this sword. His name was Blackfyre, like my sword."

As I talk, I stroll around the room, caressing my now clean blade. When I'm done, I swish Blackfyre and flip my hair, still somewhat trying to look badass. President laughs, a gruesome sight because of his face, but I stare at him squarely in the face, "Oh, what a story. Mistress Misty will hate it."

"Misty. Where is that from?" I ask myself.

"She is— was, the gym leader of the Cerulean City gym. Driven by hatred she—"

"Enough, President," a new voice orders, "take that stupid Hariyama and get out of my sight."

Misty, wearing a weird yellow shirt, short jeans with a weird red thingy that makes me think she's wearing overalls. Her orange hair is tied up to the side, and she wears no makeup (thank Arceus). I roll my eyes when I see her, but she ignores it.

"Lunaria Knight, put your sword away," Misty says in an odd voice.

I reluctantly let Blackfyre shrink into a toothpick. I don't know the science behind it, and I've come to think that it's Blackfyre the Flareon's soul shrinking and growing the sword for me. As I pop the toothpick into a bag that I made specifically for the sword, Misty sits down on the metallic chair, saying, "I guess you wanna know why I've kidnapped you."

"Yes. That's what I've been trying to get out of your stupid minion."

"Well, it's a long story, but I'll tell you," Misty says.

* * *

_Venusaurite:_** Good Arceus, _Misty's _the bad gu_y?_**

_Me:_** *twiddles fingers and grins evilly* Hehehe... I hate Pokéshipping... pearlshipping rules!**_  
_

_Venusaurite:_ **NO! IT'S PALLETSHIPPING! G, ARCEUS!**

Me: **Pearl.**

**Pallet**

**Pearl**

_Together:_ **PEARLALLET!**

_Me:_ **Wut.**


	14. Chapter 14: Imposter

_Um... uh... is this right? Whatever. I must assume so. Well, more stories from 'Misty', and it's up to you to figure out who came up with the stupid name. Me? Or Venusaurite? Hmm..._

* * *

**Lunaria**

Misty clears her throat and starts talking in a boring voice, "Well, I guess you know me; I was the leader of the Cerulean Gym, and I traveled with Ash Ketchum for Arceus knows how long. I saw Lugia, Zapdos, all these amazing Pokémon, and it was all because of him! You see, I developed a strong love for Ash, but he never got the message! When he left me when he decided to go to Hoenn, I thought, 'oh, he'll come back for me sooner or later," but he didn't! He _still_ hasn't! When he got to the end of his journey in the Kalos region, he decided that he wanted to go back to Sinnoh, when my good friend, Serena, asked him why."

I was pretty bored by then, but she continued, "He… he said that he wanted to go back to Sinnoh to tell Dawn something important. Serena, bless her soul, asked him what it was, but he would only blush and avoid answering the question. Eventually, Serena just told him her secret— that she was in love with him, and had been in love ever since he saved her when they were young. Ash had blushed red like a beet then, like the little kid that he was, and his own secret spilled out. He told Serena that… that… he was in love with Dawn!" Misty cries.

"What does this have anything to do with—" I ask.

"Shh! I'm not done! I'm getting there!" Misty snaps, putting a hand in my face, "Well, after that, Serena started to cry like a baby, trying to tell Ash that she was the one for him, which, of course, I strongly disagreed with, as _I_ am the one who should be with him, but he ignored her pleas and he went back to Sinnoh. Serena told me what had happened, and I got so angry at thickheaded Ash, and I went to Sinnoh. I got there before him, as Team Rocket, bless their souls as well, gave him many troubles. I killed Dawn before he could get there and—"

"You aren't Misty!" I scream after pulling off her hand.

"What do you mean? I have the hair, the clothes, the face; of course I'm Misty!" Misty cries.

"No, you aren't!" I yell. "No gym leader, no matter how mad, would _ever_ kill anyone! And your hand smells like pork jerky!"

"Would one, Lunaria?" Misty asks. "How are you so sure?"

And she pulls off her mask. I was right. The person has green hair that looks like it's been run over by a mob of tourists, making it gross and brownish, the person actually _is_ wearing makeup, and she tosses Misty's sensible sneakers for high heels. I ask, "What did you do to the real Misty?"

I realize this person has a weird lisp thing that didn't appear when she was talking in her Misty voice. Weird.

"Nothing, really, I jusht poishoned her pool— you know, the one in her gym— and when she and her Pokémon shwam in it, they all fell ashleep and drowned! Quite shimple, really."

"Was that story true? The one about killing Dawn?" I demand, mind whirring with how this person could be so happy that they'd killed Misty, of all people.

"Pssht, of courshe not!" She yells, "that'sh a shtupid queshtion!"

I roll my eyes, and ask, "Then why did you kidnap me?"

"We want your Budew."

"Why?"  
"Well… it's shiny, for one, and it's been injected with the know-all-movesh injecty whatever Preshident callsh it. Two yearsh ago, when the two Pokémon had been captured, Preshident really jusht wanted to know what made a Pokémon shiny or whatever, and sho he took your… Roshbud, wash it?"

"Rosebud."

"Well, the Flareon came along."

"Yeah."

"And then Preshident losht all hish money, becaush the Flareon ate it all."

"That's funny."

"So Preshident had to find people to shponsor hish exshperimentsh, sho he found a group of rich trainersh and told them that he wash fighting to make terrorishtsh who ushe Pokémon to do their evil deedsh shtop what they were doing. The trainersh were ever sho shtupid, and actually believed them! They thought, 'Well, it's the preshident, right? Sho he hash to be a good guy!' and sho they all agreed to help Preshident.

"Preshident just shtole all of their money, making them think that he was ushing it for good deedsh, when he wash really jusht ushing it for more shtuff to exshperiment on the Budew and Flareon with. Evenshtually, his plansh to find out what made Pokémon shiny faded away from hish memory, he decided that he wanted to exshperiment on shomething else, sho he inshtead shtarted exshperimenting with thingsh to make Pokémon able to learn all movesh through TMHM [_well, if I do T and M, it comes out as ™… so I have to do TMHM._]."

I lift one eyebrow, "Really, now?"

"I'm not done, idiot. But they eshcaped before he could shee whether it really worked or not. You shee, all those 'terrorisht' shtuff he shaid? It wash all fake."

"That's going to make the readers really confused, you know," I remark.  
"Who caresh about the shtupid readersh?" the weird person asks.

"Um… well… I do, and Rosebud does, and Flare does. Also, Julianabsolskittychikorita does," I say, "Um… and maybe Venusaurite."

"Naw, I don't care about readers," a teenage girl's voice echoes from above, "When I write something stupid in one of Juliana's stories and she publishes it she takes all the blame."

Another teenage voice yells back, "Shut up, Venusaurite, you're ruining the story again and I can't delete it!"

The person and I stare up at the ceiling, "What in de heck?" she demands.

"Uh… I don't know either, but let's continue on as if that never happened," I suggest.

The person nods, "Oh, where are my mannersh, I forgot to tell you my name! My name ish Pork Jerky."

"Julianabsolskittychikorita seriously is running out of names, isn't she?" I mumble to myself.

"Who shaysh it wash Julianabsolshkittychikorita'sh idea? What if it wash Venushaurite'sh idea?" Pork Jerky asks.

I roll my eyes.

Venusaurite's voice echoes from above, "So, trying to pin the blame on me, eh, Ju? Well it ain't gonna work!"

Julianabsolskittychikorita shrieks, "SHUT UP!"

We ignore the two writers.

"You mind just plain telling me why you kidnapped _me_? You could've just kidnapped Rosebud alone, you know!" I yell.

"Jusht tell me where the shiny Pokémon ish!" Pork Jerky yells back.

"So that's why you wanted to kidnap me?" I ask.

"Um… and Preshident wanted to kidnap you before you obtained Roshbud and Flare. When you got the two, we deshided to kill two birdsh with one shtone," Pork Jerky explains.

"That lisp is really annoying," I remark.

"What lishp? I don't hear a lishp," Pork Jerky says.

"Ugh, whatever," I sigh, "well, I don't know where Rosebud, or Flare are."

I am unable to tell the truth of where the two Pokémon are. I don't want to tell anyone or I'll have betrayed Rosebud and Flare, so I must lie, no matter what happens. I pull Blackfyre out of its pocket and it shoots back to full size. Magic. I say, "And don't try to force it out of me. Pokémon won't work."

"Will it, Lunaria? What if…" Pork Jerky says maliciously, opening the door.

"It'sh your friend, inshtead of a Pokémon?" she finishes.

July comes in robotically with blank eyes that stare. Pork Jerky laughs, "You remember the Hello Shkitty creampuffsh? Well, we own the Hello Shkitty franchishe, sho we made it sho that whoever ate them would come under our control! Of coursh, we found out that you knew the one weaknesh to it. For shome reashon, if the pershon or Pokémon who ate the creampuff shaw their own blood, they would shomehow break out of the transhe (trance). However, we have fixshed the fault in our creampuffsh, and we fed her twenty of them! Of coursh, now it'sh imposshible to break it. Mwahahaha!"

"Stupid Hello Skitty," I mutter, brandishing my sword against my best friend.

"Attack her, Lunaria. Attack her and she'll die. Could you really bear the weight on your chesht, of killing your own friend?" Pork Jerky asks.

The question weighs itself on my heart. It's either betray my Pokémon, or kill my best friend. I know that if I betray Rosebud and Flare to this jerk, they're as good as dead. But if I don't, Pork Jerky will force July to attack me with nothing but her bare fists. I look at July's shirt, the one that says MISSING, and I realize it's exactly right. July has gone missing. I have Blackfyre with me, but if July's trance really can't be broken, I'll have to kill her, then myself after.

* * *

_Pork Jerky! Yummy! I want to eat some pork jerky now! Yum yum yummy! _

_From here on out, it gets craaay and even _I_ can't keep up with my own story. Well, I hope to see you Monday! Wow! Chapter 15 already! Oh crud, I've only written 18 chapters... Oh crud of cruds. I better get to writing now. TTYL!_


	15. Chapter 15: Candy

_I think I'll have to rename myself 'Theworstnamever' because of this chapter... Hey happy Labor day! We're already at chapter 15?! Yikes! I still haven't fixed anything up! Well, if you've gotten to this chapter, thank you. It probably isn't Labor day anymore... whatever. I wrote this message the day before Labor day._

_AAAAH FREAKING SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW! TOMORROW! W! AAAH!_

* * *

**Lunaria**

Misty clears her throat and starts talking in a boring voice, "Well, I guess you know me; I was the leader of the Cerulean Gym, and I traveled with Ash Ketchum for Arceus knows how long. I saw Lugia, Zapdos, all these amazing Pokémon, and it was all because of him! You see, I developed a strong love for Ash, but he never got the message! When he left me when he decided to go to Hoenn, I thought, 'oh, he'll come back for me sooner or later," but he didn't! He _still_ hasn't! When he got to the end of his journey in the Kalos region, he decided that he wanted to go back to Sinnoh, when my good friend, Serena, asked him why."

I was pretty bored by then, but she continued, "He… he said that he wanted to go back to Sinnoh to tell Dawn something important. Serena, bless her soul, asked him what it was, but he would only blush and avoid answering the question. Eventually, Serena just told him her secret— that she was in love with him, and had been in love ever since he saved her when they were young. Ash had blushed red like a beet then, like the little kid that he was, and his own secret spilled out. He told Serena that… that… he was in love with Dawn!" Misty cries.

"What does this have anything to do with—" I ask.

"Shh! I'm not done! I'm getting there!" Misty snaps, putting a hand in my face, "Well, after that, Serena started to cry like a baby, trying to tell Ash that she was the one for him, which, of course, I strongly disagreed with, as _I_ am the one who should be with him, but he ignored her pleas and he went back to Sinnoh. Serena told me what had happened, and I got so angry at thickheaded Ash, and I went to Sinnoh. I got there before him, as Team Rocket, bless their souls as well, gave him many troubles. I killed Dawn before he could get there and—"

"You aren't Misty!" I scream after pulling off her hand.

"What do you mean? I have the hair, the clothes, the face; of course I'm Misty!" Misty cries.

"No, you aren't!" I yell. "No gym leader, no matter how mad, would _ever_ kill anyone! And your hand smells like pork jerky!"

"Would one, Lunaria?" Misty asks. "How are you so sure?"

And she pulls off her mask. I was right. The person has green hair that looks like it's been run over by a mob of tourists, making it gross and brownish, the person actually _is_ wearing makeup, and she tosses Misty's sensible sneakers for high heels. I ask, "What did you do to the real Misty?"

I realize this person has a weird lisp thing that didn't appear when she was talking in her Misty voice. Weird.

"Nothing, really, I jusht poishoned her pool— you know, the one in her gym— and when she and her Pokémon shwam in it, they all fell ashleep and drowned! Quite shimple, really."

"Was that story true? The one about killing Dawn?" I demand, mind whirring with how this person could be so happy that they'd killed Misty, of all people.

"Pssht, of courshe not!" She yells, "that'sh a shtupid queshtion!"

I roll my eyes, and ask, "Then why did you kidnap me?"

"We want your Budew."

"Why?"  
"Well… it's shiny, for one, and it's been injected with the know-all-movesh injecty whatever Preshident callsh it. Two yearsh ago, when the two Pokémon had been captured, Preshident really jusht wanted to know what made a Pokémon shiny or whatever, and sho he took your… Roshbud, wash it?"

"Rosebud."

"Well, the Flareon came along."

"Yeah."

"And then Preshident losht all hish money, becaush the Flareon ate it all."

"That's funny."

"So Preshident had to find people to shponsor hish exshperimentsh, sho he found a group of rich trainersh and told them that he wash fighting to make terrorishtsh who ushe Pokémon to do their evil deedsh shtop what they were doing. The trainersh were ever sho shtupid, and actually believed them! They thought, 'Well, it's the preshident, right? Sho he hash to be a good guy!' and sho they all agreed to help Preshident.

"Preshident just shtole all of their money, making them think that he was ushing it for good deedsh, when he wash really jusht ushing it for more shtuff to exshperiment on the Budew and Flareon with. Evenshtually, his plansh to find out what made Pokémon shiny faded away from hish memory, he decided that he wanted to exshperiment on shomething else, sho he inshtead shtarted exshperimenting with thingsh to make Pokémon able to learn all movesh through TMHM [_well, if I do T and M, it comes out as ™… so I have to do TMHM._]."

I lift one eyebrow, "Really, now?"

"I'm not done, idiot. But they eshcaped before he could shee whether it really worked or not. You shee, all those 'terrorisht' shtuff he shaid? It wash all fake."

"That's going to make the readers really confused, you know," I remark.  
"Who caresh about the shtupid readersh?" the weird person asks.

"Um… well… I do, and Rosebud does, and Flare does. Also, Julianabsolskittychikorita does," I say, "Um… and maybe Venusaurite."

"Naw, I don't care about readers," a teenage girl's voice echoes from above, "When I write something stupid in one of Juliana's stories and she publishes it she takes all the blame."

Another teenage voice yells back, "Shut up, Venusaurite, you're ruining the story again and I can't delete it!"

The person and I stare up at the ceiling, "What in de heck?" she demands.

"Uh… I don't know either, but let's continue on as if that never happened," I suggest.

The person nods, "Oh, where are my mannersh, I forgot to tell you my name! My name ish Pork Jerky."

"Julianabsolskittychikorita seriously is running out of names, isn't she?" I mumble to myself.

"Who shaysh it wash Julianabsolshkittychikorita'sh idea? What if it wash Venushaurite'sh idea?" Pork Jerky asks.

I roll my eyes.

Venusaurite's voice echoes from above, "So, trying to pin the blame on me, eh, Ju? Well it ain't gonna work!"

Julianabsolskittychikorita shrieks, "SHUT UP!"

We ignore the two writers.

"You mind just plain telling me why you kidnapped _me_? You could've just kidnapped Rosebud alone, you know!" I yell.

"Jusht tell me where the shiny Pokémon ish!" Pork Jerky yells back.

"So that's why you wanted to kidnap me?" I ask.

"Um… and Preshident wanted to kidnap you before you obtained Roshbud and Flare. When you got the two, we deshided to kill two birdsh with one shtone," Pork Jerky explains.

"That lisp is really annoying," I remark.

"What lishp? I don't hear a lishp," Pork Jerky says.

"Ugh, whatever," I sigh, "well, I don't know where Rosebud, or Flare are."

I am unable to tell the truth of where the two Pokémon are. I don't want to tell anyone or I'll have betrayed Rosebud and Flare, so I must lie, no matter what happens. I pull Blackfyre out of its pocket and it shoots back to full size. Magic. I say, "And don't try to force it out of me. Pokémon won't work."

"Will it, Lunaria? What if…" Pork Jerky says maliciously, opening the door.

"It'sh your friend, inshtead of a Pokémon?" she finishes.

July comes in robotically with blank eyes that stare. Pork Jerky laughs, "You remember the Hello Shkitty creampuffsh? Well, we own the Hello Shkitty franchishe, sho we made it sho that whoever ate them would come under our control! Of coursh, we found out that you knew the one weaknesh to it. For shome reashon, if the pershon or Pokémon who ate the creampuff shaw their own blood, they would shomehow break out of the transhe (trance). However, we have fixshed the fault in our creampuffsh, and we fed her twenty of them! Of coursh, now it'sh imposshible to break it. Mwahahaha!"

"Stupid Hello Skitty," I mutter, brandishing my sword against my best friend.

"Attack her, Lunaria. Attack her and she'll die. Could you really bear the weight on your chesht, of killing your own friend?" Pork Jerky asks.

The question weighs itself on my heart. It's either betray my Pokémon, or kill my best friend. I know that if I betray Rosebud and Flare to this jerk, they're as good as dead. But if I don't, Pork Jerky will force July to attack me with nothing but her bare fists. I look at July's shirt, the one that says MISSING, and I realize it's exactly right. July has gone missing. I have Blackfyre with me, but if July's trance really can't be broken, I'll have to kill her, then myself after.

* * *

_BUM BUM BUMMMMMMMM! After I (finally finish this story, I'll have to take a break... so sleepy)_


	16. Chapter 16: Awkward Rivalry

_OOH MORE SHIPS! SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIPPY! AAAAAH! KAWAIIIIIIII! VENUSAURITE NAMED THIS SHIP_

* * *

**Lunaria**

"No!" I scream as Pork Jerky orders July to attack me.

"It'sh too late, Lunaria Knight. You friend ish gone. She will attack you until you die, or she diesh. It'sh one or the other, Lunaria Knight. You chooshe for her."

"Shut up, Pork!" I yell, "I know you can fix her!"

"No, we can't. She's under the shpell of the creampuff. There'sh no eshcape from it."

I wave Blackfyre in front of Pork Jerky's face, "I _will_ cut off your nose," I say.

"Prishoner number 14, commensh (commence) attack."

"Yes master," July says blankly.

She comes at me in a fury. Her skills are high, like her kung fu black belt is like, vantablack [do you know what that is? Um… it's the thing that scientists made that is darker than black. Cool, right?]. I feel horrible, because I notice that her left forearm is twisted at an odd angle, like the bone is broken under her skin. She is being forced to fight, even with a broken arm. I wonder if this is what it's like to be a Pokémon. I cut her bad hand slightly, like a papercut, and I find out that Pork Jerky wasn't lying. July doesn't care. She doesn't feel it, but I do. I know I'm hurting her. I dodge a foot aimed for my nose, only to be kicked in the back by Pork Jerky.

I fall, and when I get up, July punches me with her good hand and it hurts like… oh, right. Not allowed to say that, but you get the gist.

"Shtop, prishoner 14," Pork Jerky orders.

July looks like her Blaziken, wondering whether he could kill Flare just a little.

"Where are 'Flare' and 'Roshbud'?" Pork Jerky asks.

"I…" I start.

My jaw's out of place. It really hurts to talk. I hold up a finger, like 'time out', and then push my jaw back. After a loud, painful click, I say, "I won't tell you."

"Commensh attack again, prishoner," Pork Jerky orders, "and thish time, don't shtop."

I know I'll regret it, but I take Blackfyre like a knife or a lance and throw it at Pork Jerky. She catches it by the blade (stupid), then cries out in pain, "Stupid," I grumble as the weird person falls to her knees, then to her face.

"Kill her, prishoner 14," Pork Jerky murmurs, then faints on the floor.

July glares at me like I stole her stolen Blazikenite. I bite my lip as I charge at my friend, thinking, _If I had my sword, I could kill both of us at the same time…_, but I don't. I don't want to kill my friend, same as how she wouldn't kill me. I stop. July is coming. I can't kill her. She will kill me first. If she kills me… will she go back to normal? I glance in Pork Jerky's direction, then gasp. The stupid person… has disappeared.

"Looking in the wrong direcshtion!" She screams as July punches me in the gut.

I instinctively punch her head, regretting it, but then thinking, _Eh, she has a rock head, she'll live._ July's eyes roll back in her head and she slumps to the ground. I turn to Pork Jerky. Pork Jerky picks up Blackfyre with both hands and holds it out in front of her like poison. I call out, "Blackfyre, secret skill, now."

It lights on fire.

My sword sets fire to the human.

Her hair explodes into flame.

"PRISHONER ZERO! COMMENSH ATTACK!"

Blackfyre's fire turns off and I pick it back up from where Pork Jerky had dropped it. Where is prisoner zero? Oh, hey. The wall. Exploded. How? No clue. Maybe Prisoner zero used a Voltorb as a grenade to make the wall explode. Ha.

"Prisoner zero?" A voice asks.

It's not a voice like July's, robotic and sounding like bees were stinging his throat, but… it's real. It's alive, and… not possessed. And very, very familiar.

He comes in and says, "I escaped."

Pork Jerky (kind of a crispy thingy now with no hair…) gasps, sputtering, "Prishoner zero… Brynan… how… how did you get out?"

"Brynan," I greet, glaring at my rival.

"Hey Lu. You've gotten better with that sword, I can see," Brynan says, making his eyebrows go up and down suggestively.

"And your attempts of flirting haven't," I retort, "And stop doing that. It's gross."

Brynan crosses his arms, "Man, I don't even get a thank you for rescuing you? When I was beating up the president's Pokémon, he was all, 'Nooooo! Lunaria, help me!'"

I blush.

"Ha, just kidding he didn't. I asked him the way out. He wasn't listening. He was all, 'Mistress is in the torture room with your rival, please don't hurt my Pokémon…' and stuff. So hey, here I—"  
"Prishoner zero, what have you done?" Pork Jerky demands.

"What do you mean?" Brynan asks, "and don't call me 'Prishoner zero.' It's weird and not my name, so shut the (censored) up."

"Brynan!" I chide.

"Oops, sorry readers. Cussed accidentally."

I roll my eyes and let them continue talking as I sit on the floor crosslegged.

"But you've been controlled for more than eight monthsh!" Pork Jerky yells, right on cue, "the mind control was shupposhed to be permanent!"

"Well, I broke free when Lu-chan [hehe… watching Fairy Tail again…] over here," Brynan gestures at me and I glare at him, "was kidnapped. I overheard a guard talking smack about her. You know, Lu-chan and I go way back. We've dated, broken—"

"When did we ever date, Brynan?" I ask, getting to my feet and retrieving Blackfyre from it's pocket.

"Uh… that wasn't real?"

"You're delusional."

Brynan's face fell in disappointment.

"Well, if you don't mind, lovebirdsh, I'm gonna go alert the guardsh to bring more mind controlling creampuffs," Pork Jerky says casually, inching towards the hole in the wall.  
I throw Blackfyre at Pork Jerky, pinning her from her shirt to the wall.

"Shut up, Pork," Brynan says.

"That was my line," I say, lightly punching his arm.

"Yeah right," Brynan says, rolling his eyes.

"Was too!"

"Was _not_."

"Was _too!"_

"Yo!" July's voice yells.

It's her normal voice, not robotic. I snap my head towards her direction. She is sitting on the metal chair, eating popcorn from somewhere as if she is watching a very interesting movie. She asks, with her mouth full, "'Sup, Lu? Who's the guy? Your… _boyfriend?_"  
She does the same thing that Brynan did in the beginning. I think I created a whole new color of red as I blushed. I say, "I'm glad you're out of your trance, but isn't your arm broken? Let me argue with my rival in peace or you'll end up like Pork Jerky over there."

"When did you ever find time to learn how to use a sword, Lu?" July asks, ignoring my threat.

I shoot her a warning glance and she shuts up.

"Now where were we?" I ask, turning my head back towards my rival, "Was I—"

Brynan is scarily close to me and since he's taller than July (and with his spiky black hair, he looks even taller), I am just smothered in blue T-shirt as he pulls me in for a bone-crushing hug.

"I missed you, Lu," he says, "I could still think when I was being controlled, and I could only think of you."

I hesitate before hugging him back, "Don't ever hug me, ever again," I say, "And you're too cheesy."

"Ooooooooh Lunaria's in looooooooove!" July squeals.

I hate this chapter and that's all I can say.

* * *

_It's called Lunan. I think Brynaria sounds a little weird... tell me in the comments what you think!_


	17. Chapter 17: Rainbows and Fiery Unicorns

_Mwahahahahahahahaha! I didn't post a new chapter and no one even messaged me! Wait. That's not a good thing. WHY DIDN'T YOU MESSAGE MEEEEE? DX_

* * *

**Flare**

"Rapidash!" Selena pants. "I hate them so much!"

"Same here!" Rosebud screams as one Fire Blasts at her.

I leap in front of Rosebud, absorbing the flames. My tail flares as I growl, "A whole horde of hidden ability Rapidash!"

Of course, Blaziken is reveling in this, Focus Blasting every Rapidash he sees. Looks like Flame Body isn't going to slow him down.

"Showoff," I mutter as I Tackle the lead Rapidash, a menacing level 45.

Blaziken is just KOing them while I actually have to break a sweat. I wonder what will happen if one of the trained Pokémon faint. Will they go back into their Pokéballs, or will they stay? If our trainers are _dead_, then shouldn't everybody be free? No… they'd still be imprisoned to their Pokéballs, even if the trainer dies. I pray that nobody faints. And then… a song. A song is playing from behind me. It calms us all down… but so calm that I want to fall asleep. It's not the one that we heard outside of the Pokémon center. A few bars into the song, I slump down, as do all the Rapidash, Star, and everybody but one Pokémon. Rosebud, who is playing the song from a blade of grass. Grasswhistle. Roserade/Roselia's signature move. I close my eyes and dream.

I open my eyes. I'm tired, but I have to. My eyes snap open and I scream. I have no regrets of screaming and I don't think I ever will. A scalpel, covered with green chlorophyll, lies before me. I'm in the cage again, but I don't have Rosebud, and the room around the cage is dark. A Spinarak crawls across the room, towards it's family, and I realize that I've been forgotten. Was the whole journey a dream? Lunaria, Star, everybody? Was my mind just wishing? Then what was this bloody scalpel for? I walk towards the bars of the cage and I hear Rosebud's voice. She whispers, "You broke our promise, Flare."

What promise? I want to ask. But I can't. I'm dissolving. My paws first, then my legs and then my head. I feel like I'm sinking into the darkness… falling deeper and deeper and deeper.

"AAAAAH!" I scream, bouncing to my feet.

My tail is three times the size that it normally is, but it's safe. I'm with all the others. Alix, Blaziken, Jaeger, Selena, Flameback (who hadn't been so happy to fight the horde of Rapidash) and Deathwing.

"Your nightmare took almost ten hours," Rosebud remarks, sitting down next to me, "almost twice as long as the others."

"What? How did you know I was…"

"I took advantage of everybody being asleep from Rosebud's Grasswhistle and used Nightmare. It was mostly for the Rapidash, but it hit all of our allies, too," Deathwing explains.

"(BLEEEEP!)," Blaziken says, "You made me have a dream where…"

_Julianabsolskittychikorita: I'm not going to be mean because Blaziken's nightmare would've taken about seven chapters by itself, so I'll just chop it off. :)_

Alix whacks Blaziken's arm gently, "Don't be so mean to Deathwing," she scolds gently.

Blaziken looks like he wants to hurt Deathwing, but Deathwing is unfazed.

"I do _not_ want to hear anymore nightmares," Rosebud groans, using her roses to shake her head.

"That was not only too detailed," I say, "but it was also seriously long, complicated and… perverted."

A Focus Blast aimed at my face is hurtling at me now. Well, see you all next time, right? Ow.

I'M STILL HERE! I'm still narrating! Yes! Well here we go again, right? :D

After I finished recovering from the Focus Blast that would've sent me to Kanto, if it hadn't been for the big tree behind me that I slammed into at like, a million miles per hour, we started walking again, Blaziken glaring at me like, "You didn't die."

We walk Southeast and it's nighttime, so everyone is starting to get sleepy. Arielle whines, "I wanna ride someone," or, "I'm tired," or, "I want to eat something, I'm hungry…"

You get the gist. She is one annoying Vibrava. We walk into a clearing devoid of anything. There's no grass, no path, even though we'd just been in a huge field with grass as tall as myself, but the only thing there, is a swirl of charred earth. Flameback sniffs the earth and recoils, making horse sounds. For some reason, he doesn't say anything… weird. Star caws from above, "Hey, there's a fire over there! Careful, guys!"

Selena shrugs and says, "I'm kinda sleepy. I call setting up camp over here."

"What about food?" Arielle whines.

_We'll have to survive without it for the night,_ Meeko says quietly, _We should probably set up a watch. We'll rotate._

"Who's first?" I ask.

"I will be first, cause I'm a Man!" Blaziken roars.

"You're a Pokémon, Blaziken," Alix sighs.

"Nobody gets a good reference anymore, huh?" Blaziken grumbles as he picks up a stick, "Where did this come from?"

"The ground," someone says.

"Well, obviously," Rosebud says, rolling her eyes at whoever said that.

"Of course, first it was from a tree, but it must've fallen, then made a journey to these grounds. Just like all of you Pocket Monsters," the same voice says sagely.

"It's Pokémon!" one of us protests. I think it's Jaeger.

"Pocket Monsters," the voice says, "is the real way to say Pokémon. Pokémon is just an abbreviation."

"Who are you?" Blaziken demands.

"Why can't we see you?" Selena asks.

I realize that we're all looking in one direction, towards the voice, but we can't see anything there. The voice laughs, "It's because you're looking down at the ground, when you should be looking up, at the Rainbowclan."

We look up to find a Ho-oh leading a flock of Flying-type Pokémon.

"Um… Hi there!" Rosebud yells, waving her ribbons around.

"What are you doing on our grounds?" Ho-oh asks with the same voice.

"Oh crud," I mumble.

"Can I Focus Blast him to Johto?" Blaziken demands.

"No, Blaziken, stop it!" Alix yells, pulling him back.

"But I wanna…"

"What are you doing on our grounds?" Ho-oh repeats.

"Um… we thought they were deserted," Arielle says, "and do you have any food?"

"Arielle!" Alix chides, "that's a legendary Pokémon!"

"Pocket Monster," One of Ho-oh's flock members says. I think it was the Archen.

"Hush, Archen," Ho-oh says.

"I guess we'll be going then?" Star says, hovering right above us.

"You shall not, but everyone else shall," Ho-oh says.

"What? Why?" Star demands.

Selena gets up and hisses at Ho-oh, "You can't take my friend away from me!" she yells.

"Selena," Deathwing says, "you should… respect what Ho-oh wants. He _is_ a legendary Pokémon…"

"I don't care whether Ho-oh is legendary or a Wurmple, but he can't take my friends away!" Selena cries.

"I agree!" Flameback says quietly.

We all stare at him because he never talks.

His mane flares a few times, then he backs away.

"No," Ho-oh says, "you must join us, Staravia."

Star shakes her head, "I can't! My trainer… she needs me!"

"Your trainer does _not_ need you, now come. We are losing patience."

"No!" Star yells.

"You leave us no choice. Battle us, and then you may leave," Ho-oh says calmly.

"Crud," I say.

"Rosebud, do you think the strategy we used earlier will work this time?" Deathwing asks quietly.

"I don't know… It might not work this time—I don't see any good grass to blow a Grasswhistle."

"Selena, give Rosebud a leaf!" I yell, "please!"

Selena yawns, "Well, since you said please…"

She uses Razor Leaf on the ground as the flock— uh. Rainbowclan, as they called it, attacks, cawing and shrieking bloody murder.

"Go, Rosebud, find a leaf and play it!" I scream as a Swanna spews a kind of weak looking Water Gun at me.

I dodge it, spitting an Ember at a young Tropius, who roars before using Yawn. I stomp on my paw, fighting to stay awake, and use Ember again. It faints. As the Swanna keeps using Water Gun in my direction, I scan the battle grounds. It's about eleven to one, and Star probably has the worst of it—having to battle Ho-oh all by herself. I fight countless other Pokémon, trying to find a way to understand _why_ exactly Ho-oh wants Star, of all Pokémon. And then I notice it—They have all the non-legendary flying type Pokémon except for Staravia. Why? I have no clue, but they won't be able to steal another teammate of ours. And then… cold. Wet, wet cold. I shiver, coughing as my fur cools rapidly down, soaking wet and plastering against my body. I turn towards the Swanna who'd been shooting random Water guns earlier. It rolls its eyes, "Don't look _away_ from your enemy, idiot. You have to have all eyes on your opponent—hey, are you listening?!"

I turn away from it, blowing an Ember at a passing Delibird, gaining more experience. And then… I hear the same melody that Rosebud played last time, but a little deeper and funnier, but it still has that soothing effect. I shake my head, plugging up my ears with my paws, ignoring that fact that my fur is soaking up dirt because of the water. I keep my eyes open, wanting to see what is going to happen, but when Pokémon start falling from the skies because they've fallen asleep, it's hard not to close my eyes and pray to Arceus, "Please don't let them fall on my head, not on my head, not on my head, not on my head… please, don't let them fall on me…"

Thank Arceus, nothing fell on me (except for that Swanna's head… don't worry, it wasn't that heavy. I think it was just an airhead… c_c). When I open my eyes, all of the Pokémon who weren't smart enough to cover their ears (pretty much everybody except for the eleven trainer's Pokémon) are twitching violently in their nightmares. I want to wonder what their nightmares are about, but at the same time, I don't. Deathwing pants, coughing, and then wheezes out, "Everybody, go! They're asleep for now, now we have to go or they might wake up! Go now!"

We all run/fly/drift as quick as possible away from the "Rainbowclan", scared that they might wake up or something. I literally flip out when Blaziken Focus Blasts a sleeping Hawlucha, mumbling something about Eeveelutions always being evil. He growls, "Hawluchas, aren't cool enough to talk about anything. Even Eeveelutions."

I stare at the Hawlucha for seconds, waiting for it to jump up and eat my face, but it doesn't and we keep running. After a few minutes, Arielle whines, "I'm hungry, tired, beat up, _and_ bored. I want to go back to my Pokéball."

"Really?" Rosebud asks. "I thought it was bad in a Pokéball!"

"Well… July decorates them for us," Alix says.

_I'm okay with mine the way it is,_ Meeko remarks.

"Mine is awesome!" Arielle crows, flying in front of everyone, stopping us all and screaming about the amazingness of her Pokéball.

Suddenly, a shiver runs down my spine, and I can tell that it was running down everybody else's too, because they all tense up and look behind them. I'm at the back of the group, next to Deathwing (I think… he disappeared again), and when I turn around, I fear for the worst.

"Um… Hi there!" Rosebud squeaks.

"Prepare to die," a voice growls.

"Come on!" Star groans, "we just escaped Rainbowclan, and now _this?_ Ugh!"

"Prepare to die," it repeats, this time, coming from all around.

The forest shakes as something comes, and with a strange sense of foreboding, we simply watched the beings come closer, step by step.

* * *

_Oh, holy crud. I only have two more chapters until I have to have another writing fest. Oh, cruddy crud._


	18. Chapter 18: Ghostly check-in

Hai! I think I'm going to have to slow down writing because I'm running our of chapters because of school! Okey, now here we go!

* * *

**?**

"Romi! We made it!" I squeal in delight, "I'm… where are we?"

"I… have no clue. This isn't Sinnoh, Unova, Hoenn, Kalos, Johto, _or_ Kanto," Romeria replies.

"Daddy, Daddy, look! New ghosts!" A little boy screams from the house next to us.

We're in a town. Probably the hometown of many trainers-to-be. How the little boy saw us, I have no clue. Two people run out of the house, screaming, "Wait ghosts! We want to catch you!"

"Catch us?" Romi asks, staring at them.

"That doesn't sound good," I say.

"Run?"  
"Run," I confirm.

We run as fast as ghosts can (which is really fast, considering that we don't have to dodge stuff) with the two people screaming, throwing Pokéballs at us. Romeria pants next to me, "We're not Pokémon!"

"I know!" I wheeze, "I really wish I had exercised when I was still alive!"

"Stop talking about living and just run!" July shrieks, "and how can they see us?"

"I have no freaking clue!"

"What region are we in?"

"I have no freaking clue! Turn right!"

There's a mountain shaped like ice cream far up ahead, "Head towards the ice creamy mountain?" my friend asks.

"Uh… definitely, rather than get caught and forced to _battle_," I say as we head for the mountain shaped ice cream.  
I wonder how I could ever be a Pokémon, or more importantly, how the heck I could battle.

"Why can't we fly?" Romi wonders, "I mean, seriously! I've seen flying ghosts around Lavender Town, so why can't we fly?"

"Because we haven't been ghosts long enough, I guess."

"We're gonna die!" Romi screams!

"We're already dead, idiot!"

"We're gonna die again! Aagh!"

"No, we aren't! We're gonna just… stay ghosts and… Keep running, idiot! I'm tripping on your heels!"

"I'm running as fast as I— HOLY CRUD IS THAT A MASTER BALL? JULIANA RUN!" Romi shrieks.

"THAT'S A FREAKING MASTER BALL, ALRIGHT, ROMI, RUN! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!" I scream, trying to run faster than I already am.

I look back at the two humans, still miraculously chasing us. I ask, "How are you still throwing Pokéballs? Don't you ever run out?"

They don't answer.

"Romi! Don't look back or your running will slow down! Just run!"

"We're almost there! Go go go go go!" I scream.

The mountain looms in front of us like a scary ice cream. It's swirly and funny, but with people chasing us, it's not easy to laugh. Suddenly, Romeria yells, "Go into that tree stump! I'll hide in the one next to it!"

"Got it!" I yell.

I see the tree stump that she's talking about. It's funny. Like, white wood with orange moss draped over it, but I'll go in anyways. The path is surrounded by trees, so when someone decided to train their Pokémon's Cut move, I guess they practiced on these strong trees. I dive into the tree stump and curl up. I feel a little shaking feeling coming from the tree stump that I'm pretty much inside (because I phased through it), but I ignore it. I hear the boy telling his dad, "Darn, I wanted a Ghost Type Pokémon to start my collection… too bad they disappeared."

The dad says, "It's okay, son. When the time comes, you'll get some Pokémon and you'll go on a journey. Maybe you'll find them. Meanwhile, I think Mom will punish you for breaking her Master Ball…"

The boy starts crying. Romi hisses from the tree stump next to me, "I feel kind of bad, but I don't want to become a Pokémon and battle for anyone…"

"I agree, Romi. We'll wait for them to leave… and then what?"

"We go, duh!"

Minutes later, they leave from the site and I sigh in relief. I get up, as does Romi. I turn to face her, and scream, "HOLY ARCEUS WHAT THE ARCEUS HAPPENED! ARCEUS ARCEUS ARCEUS!"

"What happened to _you?!"_ Romeria demands, pointing a ghostly black hand at me.

"You're a… a…" I stammer.

"SHINY PHANTUMP!" Romi shrieks.

* * *

_Forget that silly rule that I made about the 1,000 word mark. I'm going to just post every... Sunday because it's the only day that I have time. If not, then it's Thursday._


	19. Chapter 19: Follow the yellow spore road

_I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm really really sorry! I was supposed to upload two days ago, but you know, school and all that stuff got in the way, and I just couldn't get to the computer! This was done as soon as I got hold on the computer. Sorry again, and off we go!_

* * *

**Lunaria**

"Brynan, you're going to run into a wall," I remark as he runs ahead.

A loud crash comes from the corridor in front of us. July elbows me with her bad arm. It looks like it doesn't hurt... She's done so several times already, "He's kinda cute," she jeers, elbowing me countless more times.

"July, you're going to give me bruises," I try to say with a straight face and without a wavering voice.

"You like him," she laughs, poking my head with her other hand.

"If you poke my eye, I will not hesitate to poke _you_ in the head," I frown.

Brynan appears around the corner, screaming, "Holy Arceus, I've got one on my tail! Arceus Arceus Arceus!"

"Brynan, stop being such an idiot!" I sigh, taking out a Pokéball without thinking.

Teri pops out, looking around for something, then murmurs, "Lu…na…ri…a…" she sounds out like a baby, "help us…"

"Teri!" I shriek, "I need your help! Please!"

"Help… me? How…"

The person chasing Brynan screams, "AAAIIII! YOU STEPPED ON MY SANDWICH!"

It's Dr. Flamsi. I can tell from the burn on his face, and the 'AAAIIII' thing. Nobody does that in this story but him. He sends out a Ratatta and yells, "Ratatta, use Superpower!"

"Teri! dodge it!" I scream.

Teri tilts her head, staring at the Ratatta with wide, blank eyes. The Ratatta stops in its tracks, staring at Teri, eyes filled with terror. I don't have to tell Teri to do anything. She uses Swift, filling the room with stars that slice at the Ratatta and pretty much everything else. Ratatta faints and Dr. Flamsi shrieks, "_No! No no no no no! I was supposed to win! I have the strongest Ratatta in the world! Top percentage! I have it! I do! Me me me me me! Not you, me!"_

"Shut up, Doctor Flamsi," Brynan says.

"Brynan," I ask, "why don't you have your own Pokémon?"

"Because _they_ took them," Brynan says, frowning as he points at Dr. Flamsi.

"My Pokémon are still at the base of Suto Mountain," July sighs, "I wish I had them with me…"

"So the only Pokémon we have… is _Teri?"_ I ask in disbelief.

"Uh… Lu? You might want to look at Teri…" July says, pointing at the glowing Eevee.

Teri's… _evolving?_ I widen my eyes, staring at my Eevee, shivering and crying as glowing white light envelopes her. It slowly brightens, getting brighter and brighter and brighter, until we can't see. I close my eyes tight, wondering frantically what she'll evolve into.

When the light fades away, we all look at the ex-Eevee. She stares with now blank, calm, red eyes, looking at a wall in disdain. "An Umbreon?" July shrieks, practically jumping on me to see Teri's new form.

Teri turns towards July, "Romi, we should have never come."

"Still creepy," July squeaks, petting Teri on the head.

"Awesome!" Brynan caws.

He sort of reminds me of Arielle. They'll get along great, if we ever get out of here. I hope we do, because if I hang out with my rival too long, I might become as crazy as him. Maybe crazier.

Dr. Flamsi promises not to tell anyone that we're escaping because we beat him, and that by just not telling, he was doing us so much that we weren't allowed to ask him any more. Weird guy… Teri stares blankly at him… I guess that's one of the reasons why he helped us.

I let Teri stay out (since she isn't crying, more like planning revenge for Juliana and Romeria) so she can guard us, and she seems to like it. I can't really tell, but her tail isn't dragging on the floor like it was when she was an Eevee...

"Luuuuuuuuuu, where are we even going?" Brynan complains, drawing out my nickname like a rubber band until I start wishing it would snap and hit him in the obnoxious face.

"I don't know! If we just… hey, what's that?" I ask, looking looking at the floor.

"I dunno. It's yellow speckles," July says, "maybe pollen? Or a Stun Spore?"

"Pollen!" I exclaim, "that means Rosebud and Flare, right?"  
"Not really, but if you want it to, sure."

"Who's Rosebud and Flare?" Brynan asks.

"My shiny Roselia and Flareon," I say quickly, "maybe we should follow it!"

My fellow escapees agree and we begin to follow the yellow specked road. Brynan starts humming 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road' from _The Wizard of Oz_, and I can't help but wonder how he's being so strong, when I know he's scared. The trail leads us to a supply closet, and we stand there, staring at the door for a while, thinking, _What?_

July is the first to take a scan of our surroundings, "Hey! There's an automatic sliding door to the outside to our right!"

Brynan and I look to the right, and see the exact door that Flare and Rosebud had escaped through in chapter one. I scream, "Yes! I'm outta here!"

I sprint towards the door, expecting it to automatically open, but it doesn't and I slam into it full force.

"Ow…" I moan, staring at the glass door, somehow not shattered.

"That's some hard glass," Brynan whistles, knocking on it.

"_No no no no no!"_ July screams on my right side, pounding on it frantically.

Suddenly, the pain from her broken arm forces her to stop and grimace, trying to see whether she could fix it.

I use a finger to wipe at the blood on my forehead, "Woah," I say, "pretty color…"

"Ew," July says, "Lunaria, don't touch your blood."

She rips a part of her 'missing' shirt off and ties it around my head like a weird bandana, "There we go… nope, ew… Lu, now you've got some blood leaking through to your… ew. Please wash your hair soon," she says, looking at the blood in disgust.

She rips another strip of her shirt off and ties it around her forearm.

"Don't bleed, Lunaria," Teri whispers, eyes darting around suspiciously, "it'll attract… _him."_

"She never really told us who _he_ was," July says.

"You can understand that Umbreon?!" Brynan demands, surprised. "All I hear are 'Um, umbre umbreon um!' and stuff!"

"It's because you're not cool enough," July says snootily.

"Guys, can we focus on the door and getting out, instead of why Brynan can't understand Teri?" I sigh.

Teri uses Swift on the door, and it cracks.

"How come a single Swift can crack the glass, when Lunaria's thick head slammed into it full force?" July asks.

"I don't care," I say, not registering the insult, "Teri, keep doing that! We'll be able to escape soon enough!"

Teri uses Swift over and over again, and after a while, the glass finally shatters. The alarm sounds. "_Oh crud,_" July shouts, "That can't be good!"

"Don't just stand there," I scream, running out, "_RUN!"_

"WHOO! FREEDOM!" Brynan cheers, "Eight months and nothing's ever felt so good!"

"Halt!" a familiar voice shrieks, "You are all prishoners! There is no eshcape!"

"Shut up, Pork Jerky!" July yells, "Go eat a creampuff!"

"Shtop them, guardsh!" Pork Jerky cries out.

Is she too lazy to just chase us? Geez. What importance, but I need to get back to my Pokémon and protect them from this evil team of bandits, and try to figure out exactly _what_ to do.

* * *

_Pork Jerky!_


	20. Chapter 20: Teleporting

_Homework is definitely amping up and I almost don't have ANY time to write now. Of course, the comments and stuff do keep me going... This chapter was hastily put together and I just smacked it down and I don't really have anything going much for this day. Just gotta write a speech. That's good. *sigh*_

_I'm sorry I haven't posted in forever, but it's because of someone (cough cough Venusaurite) who I really wanna punch. I'll tell you guys really soon, so... yeah. Oh, and I don't know what Jasmin's going to do and how she's going to affect the storyline, but it was Venusaurite's idea. All her idea._

* * *

**Rosebud**

I brace myself as something large comes in our direction. The ground shakes violently as Rosebud shivers behind me, holding a single blade of grass.

A single Bagon pokes her head out from behind a tree.

"Hai guise!" she says in an irritating squeaky voice, higher-pitched than Arielle's, "I'm Jasmin!"

"Don't have time for this!" Alix exclaims, Moonblasting the Bagon into infinity.

"She's crazy strong. Maybe even stronger than Blaziken," I mumble to Flare, who chuckles under his breath.

And then, the ground starts shaking _again_ and Alix groans, "Jasmin, we don't have time for this."

"Uh, I don't think that's Jasmin…" Jaeger growls, getting ready to fight.

And she's right. We see red wings advancing quickly, and faintly, a voice yelling something, and from the roars that we only hear now. A Salamence's head roars into existence, about to step on me, when a girl, wearing a pink skirt that vaguely looks like Meganium petals and her neon green shirt also makes her look ridiculously like a Meganium. She calls out, throwing a Pokéball out, "Solstice, Teleport them!"

An Espeon comes out, eyes glowing with laughter, uses Psychic on all of us, and then something happens. I don't know what, because we are all enveloped in darkness, then sput out into a green meadow. I sit on the grass, confused, while Deathwing does something that could've been smiling. He says quietly, "Robyn…"

Ooh! And that was that Solstice person that Lunaria had mentioned! Awesomeness! I spy the Espeon perched daintily on a fruit tree, using Psychic to pluck the berries off of the tree and eating them one by one. I run towards her, ribbons trailing behind, and ask, "Are you Solstice?"

The Espeon stops cramming Custap berries into her face and says, _Yes. Yes I am._

"Ahh… that's… cool," I say, "I think…"

Selena wobbles towards Solstice, "Hi, Solstice," she greets.

_Sup,_ Solstice says, cramming her face with the sweet berries again.

"Can you get Robyn?"

_Nope,_ Solstice says, still cramming.

"_WHAT?_" Everybody shrieks.

_I can _try. _Arceus!_

"Dat don't make no sense, Sol," Flameback says.

We all stare at him like he's crazy, and Solstice sighs, "I liked you better as a mute Ponyta."

Flameback rolls his eyes as a portal opens up and Robyn shoots through. Robyn tumbles down the hill and when she's at the bottom, getting up, she groans, "Arceus, Solstice, you really need to work on your Teleporting from a distance."

Deathwing randomly hugs Robyn from behind, then fades away. Robyn laughs, "Hi, Deathwing. Nice to see you again!"

"This is so (censored) boring, we need to get back to July," Blaziken growls, "and I don't wanna meet anymore of her loony friends."

Robyn returns Solstice to her Pokéball, but before the Espeon returns, she screams, _What about my _cake?

"You're going to be fat, Solstice," Robyn says to the Pokéball, then turns towards the annoying Blaziken, "Who are you calling loony?"

Blaziken takes a small step back, and I realize that Robyn had fixed a death glare on him.

I ask, "Um… do you know where Lunaria is?"

"No," she sighs, looking at me sweetly, "So… you're my sister's Pokémon?"

"Well, we, are July's Pokémon," Blaziken gestures grandly at his friends, and then flicks his wrist dismissively at us, "and those are Lunaria's Pokémon."

We all strike a pose.

"Uh huh. I already knew that. Where _is_ Lunaria, anyways?" Robyn asks.

"She was stolen by July!" I scream, running around in circles, waving my roses over my head.

Flare puts a paw in front of me and I accidentally trip over it, "ow," I mumble as he says, "Actually, what Rosebud was trying to say was that July was being controlled into kidnapping Lunaria because she was under the spell of an evil creampuff."

"I believe you!" Robyn says, petting Flare on the head.

I sit up, picking grass to blow Grass Whistles with as everybody else keeps talking in the background. Robyn checks her phone for something, and bites her cheek, "Dang, I can't find Lunaria."

"Uh… that's your phone," Blaziken says.

Suddenly, the phone starts floating and Deathwing materializes, holding it and typing furiously. Robyn rolls her eyes, "Deathwing, stop texting Quinn and Remi. We are in a _crisis_ here."

Deathwing tosses the phone back to Robyn and announces, "I know where Lunaria is."

He whispers something to Robyn, who whoops, "Well why didn't you say so? Solstice, Teleport us to Lunaria's coordinates, 134.83 degrees North, 128.13673 degrees West!"

She tosses Solstice's Pokéball out again, but the Espeon doesn't Teleport us immediately. She sticks out a paw towards Robyn and demands, _Cake first, trip second._

Robyn rolls her eyes, then throws a birthday cake sized Poképuff at Solstice, who gobbles it up in ten seconds flat, then the feeling of nothing returns. When we reappear, I shriek so loud, I'm sure Arceus heard.

* * *

_LUNAN!_


	21. Chapter 21: Lunan and Brynaria

_WARNING TO ALL PEOPLE WHO AREN'T VERY MATURE! DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER UNLESS YOU WANT TO KILL YOUR MIND! The gist of this chapter is that Brynan, Lunaria and July find food, and the next morning, Lunaria's sister and Rosebud appear and yell at them. Thank you! I REPEAT! DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER UNLESS YOU'RE 16+!_

* * *

"I'm tired," July whines.

"So?" I ask, "Do you want to be caught by Pork Jerky again?"

"I think Pork Jerky needs a nickname," Brynan says randomly. "Like… PJ!"

"That makes me think about peanut butter," July muses.

"That's just great, July. Don't make me hungry," I groan.

We continue walking into the forest, talking about things to keep our stomachs at bay. Brynan starts talking about the times when he was spying on me at the Eevee Farm. I slap him when he starts talking, but he keeps going. After a while, I tune the two nutjobs out (July is asking for really stalkerish details, like my fourth cousin's aunt's brother-in-law's social security number).

Suddenly, he starts talking about fried food, and how much he wants funnel cake, and that gets my empty stomach rumbling all over again.

"Brynan, just stop. That's making me hungry," I tell my rival.

"Yeah," July chimes in.

"Hey!" Brynan protests, "I'm just hungry, gosh! No need to be so mean about it!"

He walks into a bush.

I laugh, and July yells, "Hey! You found some berries! Genius!"

By the time we've eaten all of the super sweet berries off of the tree/bush, the sun has set and the only light is coming from the rings on Teri. July yawns, "Alright, I'm ready to sleep now. Good night!"

She leaps at the berry tree, hugs/kisses it, then falls asleep, still kissing the tree. Brynan and I stare at this scene for a very, very long time before talking, "Uh…" he says, scratching his head, "I should go to sleep. Um… over…"

He points in a vague direction of to the right, "There," he finishes.

I nod awkwardly as he ventures off in that direction. When he disappears into the shadows, Teri pads over, "Lunaria," she says.  
"Hi, Teri," I say, petting her head.

Teri sits down, "You might be wondering what happened to me, after I evolved."

"The change of character is a little odd," I say.

"Well," Teri starts, shuffling her paws slightly, "It's because when I evolved, I turned all the anger inside of me into power. I swore… I swore that I would protect you from now on, and that I will destroy Buried Alive, once and for all. He will never eat another one of my friends. _Never._"

"So it was," I murmur. "It _was_ Buried Alive."

Teri nods, "Now, if you'd please, I must go back into my circular confinement to… strategize."

I return Teri, and it seems like the whole forest dims. I rub my eyes, laying down where I am, thinking hard. I finger Teri's Pokéball with one hand, using my other hand as a pillow. Finally, I attach the ball to my belt and look up the tree that I was just leaning against. As my eyes have finally adjusted, I look at the tree, measuring the distance between branches. Nodding, I jump up, onto the branch above me. I swing like an acrobat and nail a jump on the branch. Standing precariously on the branch, about six feet off the ground, I leap towards another branch, which is thicker and more sturdy, and after a terrifying second in the air, I manage to grasp the branch and sit on it. Panting, I lean against the strong tree, patting the branch supporting my weight.

I think more easily on trees. I don't know why, but I've been climbing them with my sisters at the Eevee ranch for as long as I can remember. I must have sat there for only 15 minutes until Brynan's voice calls out from below, "Having fun climbing that tree?"

I shriek as I somehow lose my balance in surprise and fall about ten feet. When I open my eyes again, I am in Brynan's arms. Embarassed to the core, I push him away, laughing, "Pervert."

Brynan laughs, and I'm surprised that July hasn't woken up. She's probably in a sugar coma, meaning she won't be up in a while. Brynan smooths down his black hair. I know what that means— he's nervous. Brynan asks, "Can't sleep either?"

"Yeah. I guess that adrenaline is still pumping through my veins."

He nods, "I'm just… so happy that I'm here, not in that building, and that I'm… with you."

I laugh, blushing madly, "Nice joke, Brynan," I force out.

But he's dead serious. I nervously laugh again, shifting Teri's Pokéball. He says something that I can't hear , but he looks at me like he's expecting an answer. Trying to cover up, I foolishly say, "Uh… yeah, sure."

Brynan laughs really loud, then leans in really close. And whispers, "I really, really like you."

Then he climbs quickly up a super tall tree and hides there. I glare at the sky, "Seriously, Julianabsolskittychikorita? Are you kidding me? You really want an awkward chapter in this story?" I scream.

No voice answers, but I keep screaming, "Julianabsolskittychikorita, answer me! Do you _really_ want my wrath? I won't follow your plotline then! I will rebel and your story will be ruined, because I will _not!_ I repeat, I will _not_ fall in love with my own rival!"

Julianabsolskittychikorita's voice laughs, "Do it your way. I'll get it to the point that I want it to get to. And you won't be able to change your fate."

"Your name is too friggin' long," I mutter to myself, knowing that she'll win eventually.

"VENUSAURITE! DON'T MAKE MY OWN CHARACTER INSULT ME!" The voice from above yells.

Venusaurite cackles loudly and I roll my eyes at the two crazy people who control my fate. Why does my fate and my life all depend on these two who can make me die with a few taps of a keyboard? My life is weird after you think about it. The arguments in the sky continue as I start climbing the tree that Brynan had gone up. I want to whack some sense into his noggin, but then Julianabsolskittychikorita's (dang she needs to change her name… I'll ask her to change it after _Battle Mayhem_ is over. Something more simple… like… my name! Yeah! I'll ask her later) words worm their way into my brain again, and I think again about Brynan's words. "_I really, really like you."_ It replays over and over again in my mind, and I realize that I've been pulling bark off of the tree instead of climbing it, and so I shake the memory off and start climbing again.

It becomes rhythmic, climbing the tree, and the two psychos from up above have silenced, so I concentrate on the sound of the Kricketot chirping in the night, and I wonder what plot Teri is thinking up of. Maybe that'll be in another story. I need to stop thinking too hard about the creators of Ecto, my life and my family, and just more on my problems.

As I start to get to the top of the tree, I realize that the sun is starting to rise, and that we would have to leave soon. I have to ask Brynan what he meant when he said _I really, really like you._ I shake the words out again, reaching the top branch. I look at the branch, probably with Brynan perched on top, ready to scare me to the deepest, darkest corners of the earth, and I steel myself, preparing to leap onto the tip of the tree, when I suddenly look down. My stomach clenches, saying, _Nope, nope, definitely not,_ and I keep staring down, wondering how much it would hurt to fall from here, when suddenly, Brynan yells, "Boo!"

My instincts kick in, and I slap Brynan, then leap off the tree. Bad idea, I know, but that's my instinct. Jumping off a tree. But it's fine, cause I get caught by it in the end. I groan, rubbing my back, then staring up at the dark (now turning light) sky. Brynan peers down from the tree branch, a red hand branding his face. I laugh at it on the inside, but it's kind of hard to laugh when it feels like there is no air in my lungs. Brynan calls, "You slap hard, you know that?"

I take a deep breath, then scoff, "You wouldn't have had to test out my wrist strength if you hadn't tried scaring me like that."

"You're cute when you're scared!" He yells, then jumps down.

I roll out of the way a millisecond before he slams down onto the branch. I roll my eyes, then we start leaping down the branches. By the time we've gotten to the bottom of the tree, the sun's risen and July's yelling something in her sleep that sounds like pickles.

"What did you say about liking me again?" I demand.

"Uh… that," Brynan muttered, scratching his head, "Well…"

"Well… what?" I ask.

"That's why I'm your rival, right? It's so that I can be weird and stalkerish!"

I raise an eyebrow, "Mmm hmm."

Brynan is flustered. It's the most easy thing to fluster him because he's just so scatterbrained and hilarious, and cute, and annoying, and wait. What? Did I just say _cute?!_ JULIANABSOLSKITTYCHIKORITA STOP WORMING YOUR WAY INTO MY HEAD! Brynan nervously glances towards July, probably silently praying for her to wake up soon so that this awkward moment can be over. As if on cue, she opens her eyes and shrieks, "YOU THINK BRYNAN IS CUTE?!"

I facepalm and Brynan laughs nervously. July shoots to her feet and starts dancing around us.

"I ship you two now!" she continues, "hmmm... Lunan? Brynaria? Hmm.. what a dilemma…"

"NEITHER!" I shriek, "YOU DON'T SHIP UP AND YOU CAN'T SHIP US 'CAUSE THERE IS NO SHIPPING TO SHIP!"

"Oh, you like him, I can tell. It's when you deny that you like him that you really do!"

"Shut your piehole, July," I sigh, pushing at her.

She dances out of the way, and I roll my eyes. July makes another circle around us before exclaiming in exasperation, "Do I have to do everything?"

She turns me in Brynan's direction and shoves me at him, "Just _kiss already!"_ she yells.

Somehow, the second our lips accidentally make contact, a blinding light flashes and suddenly we have an even bigger audience than just July. A loud, familiar shriek sounds from a Pokémon.

"Lunaria, what in Arceus are you doing?" screams another voice.

This voice is one that I'm less joyous to hear—it's the voice of Robyn, my oldest sister.

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_Well, this was a fun chapter to write. The only problem was I entrusted Venusaurite and another friend, who is not on this site, to write the shipping scene and I came back to a sex scene written in very disgusting detail. It got very intimate and weird and I deleted it immediately and banned Venusaurite from editing my document, which got her very mad at me and she said she wouldn't help me when a plague of writers block overcame my head, so I let her edit again._

_She's still really mad at me and if I don't update regularly, it's because Venusaurite has kept her word and won't help me when I'm stuck. _


	22. Chapter 22: Robyn's Arrival

_Heyyyy! You're alive! So I was actually doing my homework and I was like, "lalalala... Once Upon a Time! Hehehe... Oh wait! Battle Mayhem! Here we go!" And so here we go!_

* * *

I shove Brynan away, gasping, "Robyn?"

My sister has her hands on her hips, glaring at me sternly with a pink skirt with petals like a meganium.

"Lunaria Ato, what are you doing kissing a boy at thirteen years of age? You're too young," Robyn says, her voice with a hard edge.

"It's Knight now," I mumble, looking down.

"What?" she asks.

"I'm not Lunaria Ato," I tell my sister, head lowered, "My name's now Lunaria Knight."

"That's stupid, Lunaria. You're an Ato, just like me and Juliana," Robyn shifts her weight to her other hip.

"No 'Oh, hey, Lunaria, I haven't seen you since I was twelve, how are you doing?'" I ask, lifting my eyes to meet hers.

"No!" Robyn snaps, suddenly mad, "Lunaria Ato… Knight… whatever you are, I left for a reason! You were part of it!"

"What did I do?" I lie, but I remember yelling. I remember the day she left with Silene, and I remember screaming at her to take me. Mom storming up and we lied about it, but just when I was going to tell Mom the truth Robyn knocked me out and left...

"You know perfectly well what you did," Robyn's cold eyes meet mine, "Solstice, let's go."

Solstice flashes brighter than a supernova and I hear July yell, "CAKE!"

The Espeon's glow dims, "Did somebody say cake?"

I take the opportunity to lunge and Robyn and grab her wrist. She twists away but I keep my hold rock-solid.

"Robyn, don't leave again, I'm sorry I did all that stupid stuff and I know you're probably still really mad but we're family and family sticks together, right?" I dig my nails into her arm and my sister squirms uncomfortably.

"Um, sure, Lunaria, but I really have to go and all…" she leans back.

"No, Robyn, I need a definite yes or I'll never let go," I threaten.

"I can't give you a definite yes."

"I'll cling to your arm my entire life."

Robyn thinks for a minute, staring off into space behind me, and I feel a pang of what she used to do, how she used to be, "But I get the last laugh."

"What?" I ask.

"Behind you, Knight," Robyn giggles, and I turn.

There is Silene. I only saw the starter once, only felt her vines against my skin once, but there she is again, and this time she's angry. Thick vines protrude from her back and the small Chikorita glares at me, wrapping the vines around my ankle and tugging. She's surprisingly strong. I yelp a bit and tighten my grip on Robyn, who crashes to the ground with me.

"Sylvia, fairy wind, please!" she calls, and a Sylveon leaps from a tree and aims a pink stream of wind that burns where I'm touching Robyn and I loosen my grip a little bit and Robyn worms out of my grasp and stands. Silene thrashes me to the left and I get a glimpse of July and Brynan, my two friends, tag-battling a Flareon and a Jolteon with Rosebud and Flare. Not the best matchups, but I can count on them to win.

The air is crushed out of my lungs as Silene throws me into a tree, releasing the searing vines from my ankle and leaping up onto Robyn's head. My sister walks towards me victoriously, and I feel blood gushing from my nose.

"Robyn," I croak, "Why are you doing this?"

"Guess who?" a familiar voice asks, and something slams into me and turns the world into black.

* * *

_Alright, Once Upon a Time, here we go!_

_... in 38 minutes..._


End file.
